Takeaways From 3500+ Push-ups Last Month

Last month’s achievement wasn’t…

derived from a resolution.

associated with an ending.

declared as a goal.

…and that’s why I believe it succeeded.

A little over a month ago, December 14th to be exact, I came across a blog post that has significantly impacted my life. The post was on Goals vs. Systems by James Clear.

I’ve always been a very goal-oriented person who’s constantly trying to be the best at everything I set out to do — attempting to achieve the best score, the fastest time, or the most progress on whatever activity may be at hand. Personal drive, ambition, and motivation have always been present, but James Clear’s blog post made me question everything I knew about the approach I’ve been using to achieve these goals along the way.

I’d propose that systems are a better approach to accomplishing significant achievements than goals.

Let me explain.

If a team all agreed upon a common goal of winning a national championship, the system would be ensuring the team practiced as hard and intense and focused as possible each and every day throughout the season.

If someone set a personal goal to run a marathon, their system might include placing your running shoes in a convenient location in your bedroom, starting out each day with a morning walk and only running when you really felt like it, or planning a specific time of the week to commit to running.

If you set a goal to get recognized as a standout employee, your system could include constantly asking for feedback on what you can be doing better, ensuring you’re putting in your maximum amount of hustle each day, or constantly looking for every possible situation to provide value to your team.

Simply put, if my goal was to do 3500+ push-ups (just over 4,000 since the 14th) over the course of a month, I don’t think there’s a chance I would have ever obtained it. Instead of a goal, I started this new activity with a systematic approach and have built up some incredible momentum along the way.

This system sounds great and all, but a post about it wouldn’t be worth my time to write, or more importantly your time to read, if there weren’t a few takeaways to learn from. Hopefully this post helps others take action to achieve goals of their own.

Start Off Painfully Slow

In all candidness, messed this one up.

If I were to go back to December 14th, I would have started off with a daily routine that was incredibly easy and obtainable without a doubt, i.e. 6 sets of 5 push-ups — 30 in total. This is obviously relative, but I’d encourage you to start off with something that was quick, painless, and honestly a bit underwhelming. This ensures no excuses will prevent you from completing the activity. Moreover, the consistency that comes from repeatedly completing an activity builds momentum over time.

By starting off with these easy, obtainable goals, the habit becomes engrained into your routine. Forming new habits is incredibly difficult, so why add the additional overhead of a demanding workout or commitment on top of the simple act of developing a habit in the first place?

If your goal is to run a marathon, start with an inexcusable commitment to lace up your running shoes every single morning, three days a week for two weeks.

You don’t have to go on a grueling run.

You don’t have to break a sweat.

Hell, you don’t even have to leave your bedside!

Just the act of starting will help build more momentum toward the more difficult challenges after your habit is already formed.

Don’t Overdo It

I learned this one the hard way as well.

Sometimes there’s such a thing as too much. It can be difficult to admit to yourself, especially if you’re a competitive person, but it’s true. When developing a system, it can be easy to take on more than you can handle because in the beginning, you’re not sure how your body will respond, or what unexpected barriers can come up along the way.

For me, I had to give up my commitment to pull-ups to continue pursuing my push-up goal. Along with my daily push-ups, I had originally committed to doing daily pull-ups as well. I understood this was a lot to commit to, especially daily, but at the time I thought it was obtainable. About a month in, and almost 1,000 pull-ups later, I started to get a strange pinching pressure in my left forearm when lowering myself down from each pull-up. I worked through the uncomfortable feeling for a couple days, but after taking advice from a few friends who worked as personal trainers and physical therapists, I ultimately decided taking a break to give my body a rest was important if I wanted to keep up with my other workout goals.

It proved to be the right call.

Not overdoing it is an important distinction when working toward a goal with a system. With a system, it’s OK to adjust. It’s OK to course correct, and it’s OK to fail at points along the way. One of the most important objectives in a system is to maintain consistent momentum, and one of the most apparent distinctions between systems and goals is that goals are temporary, but systems are a new way of life. It’s not something you achieve, it’s just something you do — it’s who you are.

One might say:

“I’m not only a champion, I’m a dedicated practitioner.”

“I haven’t just completed a marathon, I’m a runner.”

“I was once employee of the month, but I am an incredible coworker.”

Hear the difference?

Log Your Progress (Analog or Digital)

The third significant lesson learned over the last month was how important tracking data can be.

Most of us have heard the saying, “What gets measured gets managed” by Tom Peters.

After this recent commitment, I couldn’t believe this quote to be more true.

As I started this daily pushup routine, I decided to record each workout on a Google Spreadsheet to keep track of my progress. The data I decided to record included:

• The date
• The seconds I rested in-between sets
• The number of sets I completed, along with the corresponding number of reps
• Notes about the workout, if any

The first day I entered my data amounted to 105 total push-ups. Depending on who you ask that’s pretty good for a workout, but no incredible feat by any means. The next day was 115. And the next 120. So on and so forth, until something interesting happened on the 10th day.

On the 10th day I had already completed 1074 push-ups.

That was the first time the importance of diligently tracking progress hit me. I had already completed over 1000 push-ups! Tracking data can be an incredible motivator in many ways. Data doesn’t lie. If someone were to commit to doing something, and did not follow through, a few weeks down the road they looked back on their activity log, it would be apparent, and brutally honest about just how much, or little in this case, they had completed. For me, it was the inverse. I was shocked at how much progress I had made in such a short time. This can be surprisingly motivating.

Being the kind of person I am, I started playing with the numbers after a few weeks and was amazed to see that I was on track to complete over 40,000 push-ups in 2016 if I were to continue at this pace!

The comforting aspect of that daunting number was the fact that doing 40,000+ push-ups wasn’t my goal.

My goal was to start making physical activity a priority, but my system is to ensure I’m achieving small, daily wins along the way whether it’s long-distance running, intense lifting in the gym, or a few simple sets of push-ups when I wake up in the morning or before I go to sleep at night.

Needless to say — thanks to the system, I’m well on my way.

If you have any strategies that have helped you achieve personal goals in the past, or better yet, any systems that you currently use to help achieve your personal goals, I’d encourage you to share them in the comments below!

Professionally, I’m a software engineer and teacher, but I’m personally interested in habit formation and alternative approaches to teaching, mentoring, and motivating others. If you’re in the Bay Area and want to talk more about this kind of stuff, don’t hesitate to reach out on Twitter or Email to grab a cup of coffee sometime!