Day 11: The Day I Predicted People Would Quit

I woke up this morning not wanting to do the 30-Day Push-Up Challenge anymore.

It had nothing to do with how sore my muscles are, and everything to do with me asking myself, “What the hell am I doing?”

Before I even got out of bed, the excuses had already started.

I don’t want to.

This is stupid.

Nobody even cares.

Why am I filming all of this?

Why am I doing any of this?

What if I fail?

It was amazing how convincing those thoughts sounded before I’d even touched the mat.

The Prediction Became Reality

Long before this challenge began, I had circled Day 11 in my head.

Combined with the slow rise until the challenge really gets tough, mixed with this day being the day you realized just how tough it’s going to be, made me believe it would be the day most people would quit. 

The novelty would be gone. The push-ups would finally start to feel heavy. The finish line would still be so far away that it almost wouldn’t seem worth chasing anymore.

I remember saying that before I ever did my first push-up.

Then Day 11 arrived…

…and I became exactly the person I had predicted.

The irony wasn’t lost on me.

My Mind Quit Before My Body Did

The funny thing is, my body wasn’t the problem today.

My mind was.

I hadn’t even started the workout, and I’d already convinced myself I didn’t want to finish it.

That’s when something clicked: I refuse to become the guy who quits on the day he told everyone else they would.

If I were going to spend the last ten days telling people that Day 11 is the first real mental battle…

Then I had to be willing to fight it myself.

Not because anyone else was watching.

Because I was watching.

Coaching Myself

One thing I constantly tell students in my strength classes is that what you say to yourself matters.

Every workout has a conversation happening underneath the movement.

Some people encourage themselves. Some people tear themselves apart.

Today, I realized I wasn’t listening to my own advice.

The challenge hadn’t changed.

My self-talk had.

Instead of encouraging myself, I’d spent the entire morning trying to convince myself to quit before I’d even started.

It made me wonder…

How many hard things have I made even harder simply because of the story I was telling myself?

Showing Up Anyway

Once I finally got moving, I noticed the workout wasn’t nearly as bad as the vision I’d created in my head.

Was it hard?

Absolutely.

Was I exhausted?

Of course.

But my imagination had made it far worse than reality ever did.

The battle wasn’t against the push-ups.

It was against the voice trying to keep me from doing them.

Today, that voice lost.

Looking Ahead

Tomorrow is going to be harder.

I know that.

Day 13 will probably be harder, too.

I’m not suddenly overflowing with confidence.

But I did prove something to myself today.

When my mind tells me to quit before I’ve even begun, I don’t have to believe it.

Sometimes the bravest thing you can do isn’t finishing the workout.

It’s starting it.

What Day 11 Taught Me

Day 11 taught me that the stories we tell ourselves matter.

Funny enough, that’s something I’ve taught other people for years, but more with a “do as I say, not as I do” attitude.

Today, I finally had to learn my own lesson about how powerful my own words could be. Every challenge starts with a conversation. The outcome depends on who does the talking.

The hardest voice you’ll ever have to overcome is usually the one inside your own head.

Fortunately, that voice can learn something new, too.

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