Impenetrable Willpower

Before I start preaching my story to you, let’s get one thing very straight. I am no fitness expert, I am no nutrition guru and I most definitely do not have bulletproof willpower when it comes to a lot of things in life. I will have my glass of wine on a Tuesday afternoon, I will eat my chocolate bar on a Monday morning, mourning off the weekend gone by and I will also pretend my 45 minutes at the gym were well spent, except all I really did was procrastinate around the weights area and lamely warm on the elliptical for 10 minutes. Oh and my biggest confession, I will also eat a healthy salad for lunch and follow it up with a good number of Oreo cookies for tea. I will not reveal the number of Oreos, because I may scandalise you. Hell who cares; I have eaten up to 15 cookies in one shot.  I hope this is making many of you feel better and I’m praying my far from perfect image is comforting your lazy ass on the sofa.

So after this self- abusive introduction to myself, I want to tell you some discoveries I have made off late. These methods were initially just for fun and I was goofing around (again at the gym) on Pinterest. I confess I love Pinterest, but have recently seen the perks of using this very useful social media site. It all started with a perfectly ridiculous 100 pushups in 30 days challenge. I am a very ambitious person, my ambitions throw words like “realistic” and “do-able” out the window, but I can’t help this flaw in my imperfect self. I decided to embark on this fitness challenge and only told a couple of people about this adventure I had embarked on. My personal trainer being one of those people, who decided it would be fun to monitor my progress every week. Oh shit! Now I was in deep trouble. I realised I could no longer let her down. Friday would come and even if I had missed Monday – Thursday pushups, I was answerable to her and the number of push-ups that corresponded that day. Let me tell you I wanted to kill myself, being unable to perform to the standard expected of me. Naturally had I done my homework, I would not be suffering like a dog every Friday.

After two weeks I had an awakening and decided it was time to end my personal ridicule, because I was no longer going to subject myself to shame in front of my trainer. I did my homework and on Friday performed like a rock star. I had experienced impenetrable willpower. It was astounding to see how being answerable to another person was turning out to be my drive. I had no reason to impress her, but I wanted to because it was my initiative, my challenge and my goal, from the very beginning. How was I going to let my own self down?

We all wake up on Monday mornings with huge goals, an invincible attitude and even have a super hero swagger that accompanies us till about 15:00 hours. What happens after that? Well, I won’t tell you what happens, as I too have been on the dark side. Are you stuck in that vicious loop like being stuck on the same Candy Crush level? Damn it… it’s time you switched off the game and played a new game!

The one thing in common I have with you, the reader is our desire and intention to make some changes. These changes can be fitness related, food related or even general lifestyle changes. So here is what I will tell you now, find your group of individuals who are not scared to embark on this saga.

I finished my 100 pushups challenge and felt invincible, accomplished and above all was hungry for more challenges. I realised my drive to get things DONE was to embrace a challenge, which kept me bound to a time frame, discipline to set a daily goal and above all I was excited about sharing my everyday small steps with someone. The latter provided me with motivation, a push on the days I was low and above all not to lose sight of my direction.

The new challenge was 40 real pushups in 30 days. I knew this was going to be hard, so I decided to make it public. It sounds ridiculous to make public, something that you are not even sure you will finish. Well, you see that’s the catch. Being answerable was the catch; not fearing failure was the catch! I had a few friends who decided they would join me in this challenge. We did this together for a month, a couple dropped out, I missed a few days too, we moaned about how much it hurt and ultimately what kept me going was the fact that I was being motivated by these wonderful women, I too was answerable to them as I was the initiator and it was my responsibility!

Once this challenge was over I saw changes. My arms were more defined, my tone was visible and the most amazing difference I saw in myself was belief. I had started believing in myself and knowing that short spurts of daily discipline over a period of time end up rewarding you with amazing results. Rome was not built in a day and nor was it built by one person either. Take a little help from your friends was my new thing!

I feel if you give and take motivation, it can only be a positive thing right? I have recently started another challenge and this time round we have eleven women from across the world. I don’t know how this one will turn out, but what I do know is that my discipline will only become more bulletproof and I know for a fact that at least one woman from the whole group will feel a difference in her body. Knowing this, is also a factor that excels me to further improve my own self. I have been told I am a natural motivator, I am still doubting this compliment. What I do know is that I have enough intention and ambition to shift a thought process on something I believe in.

So, have I shifted your ideals towards pursuing a group challenge? I am not being fitness specific; if what you need is a house cleaning challenge; well by all means go for it. Where do you think the #100dayshappychallenge stems from? I’m just saying :)

In conclusion I want to say that nothing that’s worth in the long run can be achieved in one day. Most things take weeks, if not months. Obviously this time factor is what puts many of us off and we tend to get bored or lose sight of our goals. However, as human beings we are attracted by each other and our mutual energies. Today I may be the one shower you with positive energy, but perhaps on day 23 you will be the one to rain on me with your happy vibes. Together we can create impenetrable willpower.