24,000(pushups)A great reason to set smarter goals in 2025.
By Patrick Wells
Reflection
Looking back at the year of 2024. There were a handful of OC Members (myself included) that had a bright (ok, not very bright) idea. The idea was to perform 65 pushups a day. This totals approximately 24,000 push ups for the year. At first glance, this may not seem terrible (in reality, it was). After the daily soreness wore off (sometime late in February), it became more of an ongoing nuisance.
Mental Toughness ?
While definitely proving some aspect of mental toughness (admittedly, a thin line between persistence and stupidity in this case). I’d say it fell short of being a “SMART” (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time bound). In a few areas and I think it also calls out the benefit of an additional “ER” which can be added to the end of SMART for Goals and Goal Setting. The ER I have in mind is to Evaluate Regularly, especially for those longer term goals.
Better plan…
ad we planned to evaluate at 30 days, 90 days, or 120 days, we may have realized the benefits were diminishing and it may have been wise to avoid the nagging overuse symptoms most of us began to experience. Ignoring our ego’s, we could have pivoted to a changing daily movement; allowing for variety (i.e 50 pushups, next day 50 squats, next day 50 situps, next day 50 lunges, next day 50 glute ham bridges, etc).
Make 2025 great!
As we close the door on 2024, and the 24,000 push ups that I completed, I’d strongly encourage our community to set goals. Make them SMART and to add the ER as needed to ensure your goals are still benefiting you. Therefore, allowing yourself the freedom to change your goals if the goal no longer serves the intended purpose.
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