I had a very constructive, motivating thought this morning.
All because I did 80 push-ups and sit-ups this morning.
I did 50 in a row, then 30 more in a row. Doing that would have inconceivable to me just a few months ago, at the start of the year. But, I did it this morning almost like it was nothing. Almost.
So, how did I do that?
Incremental increases. I add one more each day, five days a week. Three on adding one more pushup and sit-up each day, one day off, and then two more days adding one more of each, then a final day off. Then, repeat.
I started with 1 pushup and 1 sit-up on the first of January. Right now, I’m up to 80. But the end of the year, it will be like 200-something. Already I can see how that will be possible.
I’ve come as far as I have because of another two things other than just the incremental adding of 1 per day: 1) I made it really, really simple. Pushups and Sit-ups. I’m just starting there. I’ll more later, but to start, it was just those two. And then 2) I started at a comically low effort. 1 push-up and 1 sit-up? It’s so insanely easy, it’s almost comical. How can I fail at that? I can’t.
And that’s the point: I started at a place that was so easy, even my own inner resistance—resistance that had kept me from working out for years on the regular—couldn’t say no to it.
And now, I’ve done nearly four months in a row, more consistent exercise than I’ve ever done in my life, and I can do more pushups and sit-ups than I’ve ever been able to do.
It made me think about my writing.
I can apply exactly the same principle to my writing.
Start comically small and simple. Add incrementally. It doesn’t take hardly any time to build up to something rather impressive.
A page a day. Add another page per day the following week. Work my way up to a word count I’ve been wanting to be able to hit for two years: 10 pages a day.
It would take 10 weeks.
It would work.
Today was a good day 🙂