On the 1st May 2019 I did 20 push-ups and WhatsApp’d my brother who did the same. The next day he did 22 and messaged me. And so we went on, adding 2 each day, till the end of the month (with 80). 1st June arrived and a well-deserved rest back to 20. And so ‘ping-pong-push-ups’ were born.
Last night I did 78 to finish the second full year, and another 18,120 push-ups (+36,000 now in total). It's still hard most days but the streak makes it easy. The streak is the only thing now that keeps me going, but it's the only thing I need. Therein lies the paradox of behaviour change and impact of good ritual design.
Anyone who has been in my habits sessions over the years will recognise 2 of my 7 Hacks: Streak and Shared. Without these I would have been lucky to do a couple hundred each year. Add in elements of progress, periodisation and motivation (we begin to lose muscle mass in our early 30s and retention is a good marker of long-term health) and the result is an iron-clad habit, with echoes of the cumulative effect of marginal gains.
I'm a long way off Ron Hill's running streak, and I'm not sure that streaks are wholly positive when obsession is in the mix as with some of Hill's exploits, but for now, it works.
Time for 20 and day 732..