I would not be surprised if someone creates a challenge where participants have to create a challenge #challengeception (please don’t). Some of these challenges are quite positive and inspiring, some are hilarious and some are probably not a good idea. However, I saw one particular challenge that interested me: the 10 push-ups challenge. Why? Because I cannot do 10 push-ups. Oh I can push myself: to wake up early, to pray when I don’t feel like it or to do that extra jumping jack in Zumba class when my calves are protesting with all their might. Can I push my whole body up off of the floor by myself? The answer is a resounding…not yet. So then why on earth would I challenge myself to do this (yeah, I challenged myself…yay!).
The answer is simple: because I want to. My fitness journey involved a startling realization: I enjoy seeing my stamina, strength and flexibility increase over time. I’ve seen people do push-ups at the gym, and now on social media because of this challenge. My thoughts were always the same “I wish I could do that” followed by “I have zero upper body strength though, so I can’t.” And therein lay the problem; the whole reason why I never did it before: the thought pattern. It began with wishful thinking followed by a limiting belief and lacked any plan of how to set about achieving anything. Before I could even begin the journey to 10 push-ups, I had to fix my thinking (insert comparison of fixed vs growth mindset here). And so it began…
The journey to 10 push-ups began with a single, decisive thought (yes yes, I know that’s not the correct saying, but stay with me). That thought was : I want to be able to do 10 push-ups, what is my plan for meeting this goal?Then, in planning for this goal, I wondered, what if this goal is a metaphor for any goal I want to achieve? What if I used this challenge as a model? (I’m all about that metaphorical life.) This experience could be a model for me to achieve other goals in life. So I drew on some of the things I learned from reading motivational books and Youtube videos (is being addicted to motivational reading/videos an actual thing? Because I think I am) and came up with these steps:
- Decide on a SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-based). Whoever came up with this acronym, I salute you (And could you please teach me how to do this, whoever you are? I can’t get my stuff to form a cool acronym). In this case, my goal is to be able to do 10 push-ups after 2 months.
- Figure out your why. My “why” was initially a bit shallow (a social media challenge) until I noticed how it fit right into my larger fitness journey: to increase my upper body strength. Then it became deepened: to increase my self-confidence by achieving something I once thought I could not. Your “why” has to be strong in order to keep you on track when you feel unmotivated.
- Do some research (if necessary) and come up with a plan. Write it out and add glitter/stickers/colourful headings if necessary (to me, colourful/glitter pens are always necessary. Always).
- Actually carry out your plan. (This is extremely important, for obvious reasons).
- Be kind to yourself and be honest. I don’t think anybody gets everything right all the time. Sometimes you have to make adjustments. For instance, I used to be able to do “lady” push-ups about 8 years ago. So I started off with my “lady” push-ups on the first day like “yeah!” Halfway into my first push-up I was like “nah!” I had to be honest: I am not at the same fitness level that I was at 8 years ago, and that is okay. I had to adjust my plan and my time frame for achieving the goal. It makes no sense to injure yourself ; be honest and adjust to suit.
- Notice (and appreciate) your progress. Sometimes it helps to break down larger goals into smaller steps. So I told myself: what if every session I try to increase the number of push-ups by 1, or, try to go a little bit closer to the floor? Each small improvement adds to my confidence and motivates me to continue.
To some people, the goal of doing 10 push-ups is trivial and it may seem that way. However, the goal of setting your mind to achieve something beneficial, effectively planning and executing your plan, achieving your goal and increasing your self-confidence is not. If you look past the physical goal, there is a deeper goal: training yourself to set good goals and achieve them (hence the whole metaphor thing). As the old saying goes, practice makes perfect. While we are social-distancing/self-isolating, why not dedicate some time for personal growth? What is something you have always wanted to be able to do? Think it through, decide, plan, execute and be kind to yourself in the process. My motto for this entire process is also my favourite saying “I want to see what happens if I don’t give up.” #Challengeaccepted…let’s do this!
Peace, love and sparkles!
The shespeaksandwrites blogger.
Shespeaksandwrites 