Did you know that the second Friday in January is known as “Quitter’s Day?” Studies have shown that by this day each year, 80% of all New Year’s Resolutions have been abandoned.

I think one reason for this is that we don’t plan for failure. We tend to be overly optimistic about how easy it will be to start exercising or stop spending. Habits are hard to break. That’s why they’re called habits in the first place.

Mike Tyson famously said that “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” What matters is what we do after getting hit.

Join us this week on A Time to Sharpen as we discuss getting punched in the face…and how a good dose of reality sauce will actually make us stronger in the end.

Is there anything better than a good holiday tradition? Well, yeah, lots of things I guess. Two good holiday traditions…three good holiday traditions.

Seriously though, join us this week on A Time to Sharpen as we discuss the 2003, Christmas classic, Elf, starring the great Will Ferrell. It’s a tradition for us to watch this one with the boys at the ranch, as well as with our own kids. It’s the perfect combination of good clean fun, romance, and for the purposes of this episode, therapy. Elf a surprisingly insightful glimpse into trauma and attachment.

So come with us “past the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then…through the Lincoln Tunnel.” And listen all the way to the end. Otherwise, we’ll have to put you on the naughty list.

What’s it like to be the parent of a boy at Whetstone? There is really only one person who can answer that question. You guessed it. It’s the parent of a boy at Whetstone.

This week on A Time to Sharpen we have two such parents: JD and Kelly Buss, the mother and father of Joey Buss, one of our recent 2024 graduates. I feel certain that this podcast will be a huge help to parents looking to place their son in a program, parents living apart from their son who is currently in a program, and parents preparing to have their son return from a program.

But it has also been a huge help to Brandon and me as we continue our quest to sharpen this program.