100 Days of Push-ups

What I learned from doing lots and lots of push-ups

Back in January I started my One Push-up Challenge (you can find the post on Medium here) and I just recently crossed the 100 day mark. Going into this Strategy Test, I looked at it as a way to do more push-ups. It turns out it taught me a lot more. Read below to discover the lessons I have learned on this journey thus far.

Do something everyday

Having daily habits is something commonly possessed by successful people. This daily push-up ritual became (and is still) one of mine. Learning the the importance of developing and maintaining daily habits teaches you to show up, and do so everyday.

Jerry Seinfeld is known for this idea. His advice is to not “break the chain.” Mentally and physically prepare yourself to do your work everyday. Each day when you wake up there will be no question of what to do. I started this challenge with one push-up; I purposely started from scratch. By working at it day after day after day I started to build something awesome. If I started at 30 or 40 or 50 push-ups, it would have diluted the meaning and satisfaction of the experience. If you show up everyday and do good work, even if it’s just a little bit at first, you will find yourself bound for greatness.

A lesson in perseverance

Years ago when I was training and teaching more heavily in martial arts, 100 push-ups was no big deal. Fast forward to more recent times, 100 consecutive push-ups was a more daunting task.

The first 50 days or so weren’t all that difficult but after 50, the challenge became a bit tougher. Each day it became a little more strenuous. What keeps me going is that I CANNOT break my streak. I push through and pain and fatigue, and get it done.

But it goes further than breaking the streak. I felt something in my mind and deep in my body. I could feel work being done, I could feel fatigue setting in, and I could feel my body reacting — but in a positive way. Instead of stopping when I felt resistance, my body pushed harder. It’s not even something I felt like I thought about, it naturally kicked in and pushed me along.

The importance of completion

Doing push-ups in this manner is really making me appreciate completion. One thing I struggle with is following through and finishing. This challenge showed me that true satisfaction with work doesn’t come from having the longest to-do list or being the busiest; rather it comes from seeing something through and completing it. When I get down to do my push-ups I see the path that is right before me. I know when it begins and when it ends. I also know I am not successful until I push my body up that one last time. Learning to envision your road map and navigate it to fruition is a tremendously useful skill that will help you tackle any difficult journey.

Key takeaways

• Show and work everyday.
• Start small and build something big; always advance and progress.
• Train yourself to have a positive reaction when faced with adversity.
• Learn to appreciate the satisfaction of completion.
• Today, take your work further than you did yesterday.

This has been my favorite Strategy Test so far. It’s been a lot of fun discussing it with friends (even several of them have jumped on board), exciting to actually feel the progress, and this simple activity has taught me a good deal about doing good work.

Have you jumped into the one push-up per day challenge? Tweet me @ProductiveSelf and tell me how it’s going so far!

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