I made it to day 50. I’m technically on Day 56 but it took me a few days to get this post ready. I wasn’t sure how far I could get when I began this journey. Like many things, I take it a day (or a few days) at a time. My initial target was 30 days but then I revised it to 75. Now I’ve moved my goal officially to 90 and I’m past the half-way point. Here are some of the details and the lessons learned.
My Progress:
I think most of us like to see progress when we put effort into something. I love data so the below table shows some of the data I have collected:
A few other points worth mentioning:
- My total calorie deficit over 50 days is 21,807. It’s the equivalent of losing about 6.25 pounds of fat. I’m not doing this for weight loss, so I haven’t been weighing myself every day.
- I’ve consumed at least 38.5 gallons of water throughout the 50 days. It took my 13 days to get to my goal of one gallon per day which is why it’s not 50 gallons.
- I’ve read four business books throughout this program and am working on a fifth.
- “Pushing the Envelope: All The Way To The Top”
by Harvey Mackay (in progress).
- “How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere: The Secrets of Good Communication” by Larry King
- “The Millionaire’s Secrets: Life Lessons in Wisdom and Wealth
” by Mark Fischer.
- “Purple Cow” by Seth Godin
- “Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions”
by Guy Kawasaki
- “Pushing the Envelope: All The Way To The Top”
- I haven’t tracked the actual minutes of listening to podcasts while I walk. But I suspect it’s between 15 and 20 hours worth throughout the 50 days.
Lessons Learned:
The biggest lesson learned is that this is far from easy. There were days when it was too hot, too cold, rainy, snowy, dark, windy, etc… where I forced myself to get outside for at least 45 minutes. I’ve been busy and have had to sacrifice doing things I wanted to do so I could complete the program. But the overall result is I feel better physically and mentally. Here are some additional observations and thoughts:
- Time is a constant issue. I feel rushed almost all the time as I’m constantly trying to check items off of my list.
- I’ve sacrificed sleep more than anything. My average was just below 7 hours per night when I began the program and dropped to about 5 hours and 30 minutes this past week. I am questioning the effectiveness of this and looking to revisit it.
- I don’t expect people to be supportive or even care. I’m doing this for me, not for anyone else. My outcome for this program is to be the best me I can be.
- The snooze button is your enemy. I used to set my alarm with two or three hits of the snooze button factored into my wake up time. Don’t hit the snooze button. It’s your first test of the day – pass the test. I haven’t hit snooze in weeks and it’s made me stronger.
- Walking at the beginning of the day helps me feel more energetic throughout the day.
- I’m constantly pushing my limits. I’ve done a 104-minute walk and 100 consecutive push-ups. Both of these seemed out of reach when I first started the program.
- The Tomato Timer has been a great tool as are the timers on my phone and watch. I block off time for both doing tasks and for “downtime.” It’s help me better understand how much time various tasks take which helps me plan out my day.
Questions answered:
A lot of people have asked me about this program. So I thought I’d share some of their questions along with my answers.
Why are you doing this?
I started doing this back in November of 2019 because I was in a rut and needed to get out of it. The bottom line is that I wasn’t happy and needed to do something about it. I started with watching motivational videos and movies that inspired me. That changed my mood so I wasn’t moping around all day.
I had heard that if you do something for 21 one days, it becomes a habit. So I picked a few other habits I wanted to develop and gave myself a 30 day challenge. That has evolved into a 5 week challenge that I’ve been repeating (I’m on my 4th pass).
What are you expecting to get out of this?
Exactly what I’m getting – results. My plan was to feel better – both physically and mentally. What that translates to is that I wanted to be more energetic, less chunky and complete goals that I have given up on.
Are you doing this just to show off?
No. I’m proud of my progress and sharing it for two reasons. First, I’m “going public” to keep myself accountable. Second, I’m hoping that it will inspire others to make positive changes in their lives. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions so I’m sure there are people that think what I’m doing is dumb. But I’m doing it for me, not them, so I don’t care.
Can you share the details of your program?
Yes. I’ve done so in the prior posts on this topic. Feel free to ask questions either in the comments below or via my contact form.
Will you market this to masses?
I would love to but there are a few things I need to work out before I can do that. The first is that this program has been designed with my particular needs in mind. So I’d need to adapt it for everyone else. I have started doing this and have had a few people look at it but it still needs a lot of work.
When will share your next update:
It’ll probably be at 60 or 75 days. I occasionally share updates on social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram. But this blog is still the best place as I cover all my social media updates in my Weekly Review.
James Feudo owns the Boston Web Design Agency JVF Solutions and loves blogging about personal development and communication in his spare time.