I was never good at push-ups. But good is subjective. If the pool of push-up people is small enough, I’m the best, and if it’s large enough, I am not.
Better is better. Better shows progress, and that’s what life is really about. Progress, walking your path, stumbling, succeeding, and meeting people along your journey.
I did pushups wrong. I counted push-ups, not minutes. I was thinking about the wrong number.
in my class, we do an accountability partner assignment. Students choose two areas to improve, and an accountability partner for each one. I offer – if needed -to be their accountability partner.
One student, Aaron, wanted to do 100 push-ups a day. I was his accountability partner.
This was too many for me. But it was because I was doing 100. If I change the metric to minutes of push push-ups per day, it became more achievable.
Set a timer for one minute. Do as many push-ups as possible. When not doing Push-ups just be in the push-up position with arms extended.
That’s it!
My guess for the effect is ambiguity and familiarity. How many sets? How long will this take? Do I have time for this?
Nothing in my life is denominated in number of push-ups. There’s no context. But minutes, I’ve got minutes everywhere.
Where else could this work?
The Waiter's Pad 