30 Day Challenge - Wake Up Push Up - Takeaways and What I Learned
On August 8th I began a self-imposed challenge, to record myself doing many push ups as possible - 1, immediately upon waking up for 30 straight days. To clarify, after peeing and brushing my teeth.
The reason for the challenge was multi-faceted, but the main two points were.
I wanted to use the challenge as a way to engage people. Everyone loves a challenge and I thought this would be an easy way to get people involved and moving.
I needed a way to force myself to be on camera. If I was going to start a YouTube channel, and take it seriously, then I needed to get over my fear of being on camera, and I needed a way to make myself commit to it.
Looking back on the 30 days and I’ve realized that a lot more happened than I could’ve ever predicted. While the first reason, to engage people and bring them to my channel, didn’t really pan out (all 30 videos received a total of 151 views, average 5 per video), the 30 day commitment raised some other unintended benefits.
I accomplished my goal of recording + posting for 30 straight days. Doing something that made me uncomfortable.
I got more comfortable being on camera.
I got better and faster at editing videos.
I equipped my gym better for working out and recording.
I did 1,426 push ups. Additional rep, on top of my normal workout routine, that resulted in increased strength, endurance, and shoulder stability.
But perhaps the coolest, at least to me, is that it made me think of a new way to get people moving, but starting with just 1 set of 1 exercise per day.
Building a Sustainable Workout Routine One Day at a Time - 30 Day Challenge
In my life I’ve always pursued goals with some desired outcome in mind. For this one, to grow and engage an audience. Not once did I think about any of the other achievements that would happen as a result.
We hear the advice often to just do it, just get started. People who have already achieved success will often say this, because they understand what it means. You don’t know where you’re going to end up, what your idea is going to look like, or what’s going to work or not, until you start. And that’s been the biggest lesson I’ve learned from this 30 day challenge.
We want to know what the end result is going to look like. When we get that idea in our head to do something, it’s seems so clear. But we really can’t know, because so much can happen on the journey.
After completing the 30 days of push ups I picked up campfire squats to add to my morning routine. The reason I chose campfire squats was because I couldn’t perform 1 clean rep. It seemed like a good challenge, but physically and mentally. I’m 25 days in, and like the push up challenge, I’ve already seen benefits I never anticipated. In a few more days I’ll share those as well.