Creating Lasting Change: The Five Keys to Transformation That Sticks

Change is easy to talk about, but hard to live. Anyone can white-knuckle their way through a 30-day diet, a burst of gym motivation, or a fresh routine. But real transformation—the kind that rewrites your future—rarely happens by accident. In this episode of The Impossible Life Podcast, hosts Garrett Unclebach and Nick Surface pull back the curtain on what it truly takes to create lasting change.

Their message is direct, uncompromising, and deeply practical. Drawing from Garrett’s experience as a former Navy SEAL and both hosts’ journeys of spiritual transformation, they explore why most people fail to change—and what separates those who only dream about growth from those who actually live it.

Why Most Change Fails

Nick kicks off by highlighting a sobering truth: even after something as extreme as open-heart surgery, 60–70% of patients don’t make lasting changes to their lifestyle. “They literally cut your rib cage open, wire you back together, and most people still go right back to the same habits,” he notes.

Garrett sharpens the point: “People don’t really change—they just die.” He cites Elon Musk’s famous observation that if humans lived forever, society would stagnate because most never transform. It’s a hard truth—but also the reason Garrett and Nick believe faith and intentional growth are non-negotiable.

Pain, Experience, and Growth: Three Triggers for Change

The hosts reference Keith Craft’s insight: “Some people don’t change until they hurt enough they have to, experience enough they want to, or grow enough they’re able to.”

• Pain: Sometimes life forces you into change. Divorce papers, addiction, or hitting rock bottom. As Garrett puts it, “The judge puts you in rehab, your wife drops papers on you—it’s change or change.”
  
  

• Experience: Other times, it’s the influence of new environments, mentors, or seasons. Nick shares how God placed him in Texas surrounded by the right people and voices, saying, “I was hungry to grow, but I didn’t know what to do. What I was missing was God.”
  
  

• Growth: The deepest, most sustainable change happens when vision pulls you forward. Garrett explains, “When you get focused on the right things, you’ll do the right things. Purpose always beats raw discipline.”
  
  

The Five Keys to Lasting Change

So what does it actually take to lock in transformation? The hosts break it down into five pillars:

1. Humility

Change begins when you admit your way isn’t working. Garrett puts it bluntly: “You can either be humble, or you can get humbled.” Humility means laying down pride and becoming teachable. Without it, no advice, no mentor, no program will stick.

2. Submission

Humility cracks the door open, but submission keeps it open. Submission is the daily choice to yield to something greater than yourself. As Nick explains, “Submission isn’t weakness—it’s coming under the mission. You’re no longer about you. You’re about Christ’s mission.”

3. Truth

Lasting change requires a fixed anchor of truth. Without it, we drift back into self-made rules and shifting standards. Garrett reminds listeners: “There is a God, and it’s not you. There is a truth, and you’re not the writer of it.”

4. Purpose

Discipline alone will burn you out. Purpose ignites commitment. Garrett uses a SEAL-worthy analogy: “If I told you to run a marathon tomorrow at 4 a.m., most people would say no. But if your family’s life depended on it, you’d make it happen. Purpose always pulls more out of you than discipline ever could.”

5. Consistency

Finally, change requires consistency—the relentless showing up, day after day. Nick emphasizes, “It’s not the big moment at a conference that makes the difference. It’s the daily submission, the daily humility, the daily walking in truth.”

Faith: The Missing Ingredient

At the core of their message is faith in Jesus Christ. Both Garrett and Nick are clear: self-help, discipline hacks, and motivational tricks can take you part of the way, but only God can bring true transformation. Nick recalls the day it became real for him: “It was like someone put a megaphone to my ear and said, ‘My ways are better.’ I realized I’d been missing the Author of life.”

That encounter marked the start of lasting freedom—not just temporary change.

Practical Takeaways for Men

For men chasing personal growth, leadership, and purpose, the episode offers a roadmap:

• Stop waiting for crisis. Don’t let pain be the only thing that drives you. Seek growth before the storm hits.
  
  

• Choose humility daily. Pride will keep you stuck. Admit where your way isn’t working.
  
  

• Submit to truth. Anchor yourself in God’s Word, not in shifting cultural opinions.
  
  

• Pursue purpose, not just discipline. Vision and mission will carry you farther than raw willpower.
  
  

• Build consistency. Small, faithful steps compound into transformation.
  
  

Conclusion: Change From the Inside Out

The takeaway is clear: lasting change doesn’t come from the outside. It begins within—through humility, submission, truth, purpose, and consistency. As Garrett summarizes, “You’re not waiting for things to change for you. You’re changing in the direction God has called you.”

If you’re hungry for more than temporary fixes, dive into the full conversation on The Impossible Life Podcast. You’ll find it on Spotify, Apple, or at theimpossible.life. And for daily encouragement, follow on Instagram @theimpossiblelife.

Because life isn’t about living safe—it’s about creating lasting change.