Yitzchak (Isaac) spends his life digging wells. Not quick wins. Not surface moves. He does real digging. Steady work. Quiet work. The kind of work no one claps for.
Avraham (Abraham) changed the world with open warmth. Yitzchak changed himself with inner strength. He went inward. He faced the parts of himself that needed work. He dug beneath the noise. That is gevurah (heroism). It is the strength to look inside instead of looking for another shortcut.
I know how easy it is to avoid that kind of digging. I have avoided it many times. I kept myself busy with tasks that looked productive but never touched what mattered. I checked boxes. I crossed off to-do items that did not move my life forward. It felt like progress, but it never changed anything. The big questions waited underneath.
That is when I started paying attention to the small things that keep me grounded. Time with my kids. Saying Tehillim (Psalms). Daily exercise. None of these is loud or impressive. They do not feel like big achievements. But they connect me with Hashem and with the people who matter most. They remind me who I am and who I want to be. These habits are my own wells. They are the place I dig when life feels noisy.
The hard truth is this. Nothing in your life changes until you stop hiding behind busy work and start asking real questions. What drives me. What stops me. What fear am I avoiding. These questions take honesty and patience. They take courage. But they open the way to real growth.
Motivation fades. New routines fade. Surface changes fall apart when life gets hard. Inner work does not fade. When you dig deep, the water you uncover lasts.
So this week, take a lesson from Yitzchak. Go deeper than comfort. Let go of the need to look productive. Choose one place in your life where you know you have been staying on the surface. Then dig. Quietly. Steadily. Without waiting for perfect conditions.
If you want a strong life, you need a strong well. When you dig for real, you always find more than you expected.
- Nachman (Nathan) Hoffman is a leadership coach, entrepreneur and CEO. With over 20 years of experience in business and personal development, he helps individuals and organizations align vision, growth and values.