I Don't Wanna
"Accepting An Oscar" by Gregg O'Connell is licensed under CC BY 2.0
In my last piece, “You Do Have It In You,” I wrote about how I started doing daily push-ups, since early last month and about that little voice dubbed “the governor” by David Goggins in his recently published memoir, Can’t Hurt Me. I found myself facing that little voice in my quest to break my current daily record of 335.
I’m a little over a month into this daily habit and far removed from my first day of 7 push-ups. In the beginning, I broke daily records almost everyday. However, I noticed that my progress has slowed down slightly, which was bound to happen. There have been a few days, where I struggled to break 100 much less breaking 200, due to having a long day or a day full of family commitments. I’ve learned that I could max out a good set at 25 reps. Then, I’m good to go in another 20-30 minutes. It seems that the only way to have a large volume is to dedicate significant time to be able to crank them out. However, if I have a day where I’m running errands or at a family party, I can’t exactly drop down in the middle of a store or in someone’s backyard. When I looked at my push-up log, I grew frustrated and, on some days, wondered what the point was in going further for that day.
On one of those days, I was venting to my wife and she reminded me of how, even with those “few” push-ups, I still did more than someone on the couch. I realized that she was right. Looking back, I even did push-ups, during my recent East Coast trip. So, I literally haven’t missed a day since 8/4. Considering that I’ve heard that I’ve heard that it can take anywhere from 21-66 days to establish a habit and I’m 41 days into my habit, I think that it’s safe to say that this is something I will continue. This consistency alone is a tremendous victory.
Here are some of my takeaways:
Ignore “the governor” because it’s an idiot. A good practice is worth pursuing and there is no use in holding back effort.
If there’s something that I want to master, I need to dedicate time and be ready to go.
Any push-ups are better than 0.
Every day with push-ups is another day towards establishing my habit.