Our ability, our strength and our idea of what is possible is most likely all in our head.
One month ago I couldn’t do a single full push-up. It was probably a combination of bad technique, little strength and a thought which strongly said – you can’t do this. Yet in the past 31 days I have completed 496 of them.
On the 1st of August I did one full push-up. On the 2nd I did two. On the 3rd I did three and so on.
Today, the 1st of September I did 32 push-ups.
For someone who thought I couldn’t, I have proven myself wrong.
One small action and one small addition a day has shown me that I CAN do this. Which got me thinking.
How many things do we not try because we think we can’t do them?
and
What could we improve by just adding a little bit to our idea of what is possible each day?
On day one I just managed my one push-up with shaking arms. On day two I could do a full one but couldn’t make it to two, so did one in the morning and one in the afternoon. By day six I could manage 3 full push-ups at one time, which turned into 8 in a row on day 19 and now, on a good day, I can get through 10 without stopping or my arms giving out beneath me.
I know that doing 10 push-ups in a row isn’t revolutionary or mind blowing. But for me it has made me realise that one small increment each day makes big changes without you really realising. I sometimes wonder why the hell I’m doing this “challenge” (which is supposed to go for a year, so on the final day of the year you do 365). And the only real answer I give myself is because I can. It is a great daily reminder that I can do what I put my mind to. It highlights that little by little I can improve. It pushes my comfort zone and makes me question what else I could be trying to improve one small increment a day.
So what about you?
What would you like to try to improve by making a small incremental step each day?
Each day won’t be easy. We will get up and fall down. But if we laugh as we go and enjoy the process, each of those little steps will add up to a whole lot. C’mon let’s do this together.
