Day 90 of The 100 Day Challenge

Here I am at Day 91, looking back at what the last couple months have been for me, strictly relating to this challenge. I had to take a few days off for a bad back injury (herniated discs are not fun, and no amount of padding allows you to do sit ups - I tried) but got back to it as soon as I was able to. I can honestly tell you that Day 90 was....easy.

Not so easy that I could pass it off without effort. But easy in that there was no stress, struggle, or hesitation when it came to do my routine. 90 sit ups done. 90 push ups done.

I've already decided that when this challenge is complete in 9 more days, I will keep up my workouts, albeit slightly modified. What I find funny is that at Day 50 and 60, I was thinking "Okay, when this is done, I will continue to work out, but I am going to cap it at 40 or 50 or something, cause this is killing me!" Yesterday, I was thinking "90 is pretty good. I could do more, actually, but today is day 90, so I'll stop there for now."

Amazing! Two weeks ago, I was straining to get the last 3 or 4 reps in, wondering how on earth I would ever make it to the end. Today, I am making a future workout plan that includes 100 sit ups and push ups plus some cardio, and maybe a couple other things thrown in on certain days to get to other parts of my body toning. I really didn't think this mindset - of thinking 100 every workout - would be possible. It is!

The key is simply going through it. How can I tell you, dear reader, that you can do 100 sit ups and push ups in a single workout? Because I have done it before! No real magic formula. You can only do 5 push ups now, you say? Great! Tomorrow, do 6. Maybe give it a day of rest after that, and then try 7. And then 8. Before you realize it, you'll be at 10, and then 15. And then 25. And when you hit 30, you will realize that doing 5 is so easy, why didn't you simply do this before?

And here is the life lesson. How do I know that I can write a novel, publish it, and see it for sale in bookstores while signing autographs? Because I've done it before! How do I know that I can get on stage and perform in front of a capacity crowd? Because I have done it before! How can I claim that I can get back into physical fitness, and get rid of years of fat and laziness from my body? Because I have done it before!

Experience is a great teacher. It gives knowledge, wisdom, and confidence. The next lesson I need to learn (and by learn, I mean have that epiphany of knowledge as I have experienced through this challenge) is how to understand a thing through the experience and example of another person. We've all heard great quotes from other people, listened to or read someone else's story (you, dear reader, are doing exactly that right now), however I wonder how much we learn from others actually sinks into our core without us experiencing it ourselves firsthand? It does happen, but probably not enough.

I know personally dozens of people who have been successful in all manner of fields: business, publishing, travel, parenting, and more. Yet their confidence in what they know often doesn't translate to my own confidence in that same thing. Yet it should. My discovery is that I need to trust more. When I am learning from the experience of others, I can choose to trust that what they say is real, or be skeptical of their story and decide that they are lying in some way, or at least believe that what they are claiming is true might work for them but not for me.

But why shouldn't it?

I can tell you, with absolute confidence, that you CAN complete a 100 day challenge. You CAN become more physically fit! You CAN achieve your goals of physical health, strength, or whatever plan you have in place for yourself is. You can do it! Why? Because I have done it before! I have the first hand results of knowing I could complete the challenge. It didn't work out exactly as I planned because injury and illness stole more than a week from my timeline of finishing. It doesn't matter, though, I kept going anyway. And so can you! The key is not about worrying when detours come your way. On any pursuit, you'll have failures crop up. But if you just keep going, refuse to quit and see it through to the end, you'll make it!

I am now attempting to translate that message into other areas of my life, and looking forward to the results. I hope you can too! I believe in you, whoever you are, because I believe in myself.

Need more inspiration? Try these:

"Be not weary in well doing, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." - Galatians 6:9

"Never, never, never, give up." - Winston Churchill

"Winners never quit, and quitters never win." - Vince Lombardi

"The cowards never started. The weak died along the way. Only the strong survived." - multiple sources (Sports, Oregon Trail, Sermons)

Day 37 - of the 100 Day Challenge

Today is Day 37!

I'll need to give a little more background, I suppose, in order for you to know what it is I am talking about.

37 days ago, I started a workout...experiment. I was going to say regimen, but that isn't accurate. Experiment is much more apropos. Here's the summary: on Day 1, I did 1 pushup, and 1 situp.

Day 2 - I did 2 push-ups, and 2 sit-ups.

Day 3 - I did 3 push-ups, and 3 sit-ups.

You see the pattern emerging here, I hope!

So, today is Day 37! I've managed to keep it going, every day, for 36 days. Today, on Day 37, I will do 37 push-ups and 37 sit-ups. All but one of those days I was able to do all of them in a row, too, no breaks. Day 35 was a particularly draining day, and I am not sure why but I could only make it to 26 before my arms stopped responding to my order to push up. I had to take a 15 second break, and then finish the last up.

Last night, 36 in a row, both exercises!

I have discovered a few things along the way.

First, I am stronger physically than I was on day 1. Yeah, no duh. That should be obvious to even the least athletically inclined person out there.

Second, it is habit forming - it's becoming addictive! It took a couple weeks, and then it happened: I have started looking forward to the challenge every day. Not just the physical part - the mental challenge of "I can do this!". I don't want to miss a day. It would be like cheating on a test. And I am trying to do it all out, all in a row, every time. I have started to ignore the physical part, because the mental game is much more difficult, more demanding, and I think in the end will be more rewarding.

Here is what I mean - getting to 35 push-ups in a row was hard, and I failed at it. I still completed all 35, but that break in between was a little demoralizing. The next day I analysed myself and was thinking "What did I do wrong last night? I did 34 in a row...why was 35 so hard? If I couldn't do 35 in a row, what am I going to do for 36 today? Split it in half and take a break in between?"

I had thoughts like this all day. When I finally set about to do 36 push-ups, I did this instead - I counted to 12 three times. Amazing, I didn't feel fatigue hit me until I counted 8 on the third set. Why was that small, seemingly insignificant change so monumental? The reason: my brain told itself: "I can do 12 push-ups. 12 is easy! I've done 12 push-ups many, many times before. So there is no problem with that, right? Another set of 12 - sure! I can do 12! A third set of 12? Absolutely. I can do 12, we've already discussed this."

Remember this: your subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between fact and fantasy. It just believes the information it is given. Yes, you can 'trick' yourself into doing more, simply by reminding yourself that you've already done it before, or by changing the rules of the game in your own favour.

How far can I get on this 100 Day Challenge? I don't know! But it is a learning experience that I am looking forward to, every day.