Adrian

Discipline without betting on willpower. Down 8kg, learned a muscle-up, screen time under 2.5h. Sharing my learnings & results.

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

Some people just plan stuff and ruthlessly follow through until they reach their goal.

If that's you, congrats. You can stop reading now.

But willpower isn’t reliable for everyone.

Many of us have started over more times than we'd like to admit, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Building discipline based only on willpower is like resisting a wave.

You get tired. The wave doesn't.

But you don’t have to fight.

You can start working with your motivation instead of against it, learn the pulling forces in your life, and redesign your days so the right thing happens whether you feel like it or not.

By changing your environment you can make comebacks quick and natural, even when life forces you out of your commitments.

This is what it takes to build consistency that enables you to win.

Don't believe me?

I've spent a year rigging my own life around that. Documenting it here.

My no-discipline to-do list:
Reduce daily screen tome to <4h [✓]
Lose 8kg [✓]
Learn a muscle-up [✓]
Post everyday for 100 days [1/100]
Reduce daily screentime to <2.5h [ ]
Learn back lever [ ]

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

Well... I got sick and can't really do any training 🙃

My 10.000 push-up challenge is unfortunately on hold for a few days.

I kinda feel it contributed to my getting sick, as it surely impacted my recovery after workout days, but on the other side I feel really noticeable improvement on my pushing side + chest surely got some volume already.

I think when I restart it, I'll try to split the sessions into 2 or 3 throughout the day, because with 100 done within 20 minutes as I usually did, I felt it's a bit too much on my body in the long run, at least with my current fitness level.

None the less, it was a nice ride.

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

Today is first not-really-hit-it day.

I pledged to go 100 push-ups per day for 100 days straight.

But I had rough week.

Today I did whole training from my standard plan, but started feeling a bit sick shortly after so I decided to drop the bar a little bit for today.

I did 50 straight. Tomorrow I'll see if I can make it up, or if I get worse.

So, 7.950 to go.

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

Shit happens... Today my video recording broke mid-session when documenting push-ups for my challenge.

So I included un-cut footage of what was preserved before camera stopped recording.

I also forgot which day it is and said I'm on day 19 again hah

But it all doesn't matter.

2.000 pushups done.

8.000 to go.

I absolutely underestimated this challenge.

I love how it shows me that the consistency is difficult in itself - doesn't matter how hard the actual activity is, because if you commit to the activity no-matter-what it will find you in time in life, when even 20-30 minutes session in the evening is real stretch.

I also underestimated body adaptation - it was great for first two weeks but last few days as I'm exceptionally tired by other stuff I really feel even 100 reps but every day can cause some stiffness and soreness.

Anyway, I'm not stopping.

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

10.000 push-up challenge day 19.

I did 30 in one session again.

That's some progress.

I wonder if 50 in one go is achievable before the end of the challenge.

8.100 to go.

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

@PunchyMoney motivation never disappears. you just get motivated to do something else. You can just get obsessed and go till failure, but you can also learn to influence your own motivation so it doesn't work against you. I prefer second option, as it's much more sustainable in the long run.

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

@icanvardar facts

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

If people could understand how different result-wise it is to commit to something for 5+ years instead of 2-3 months, world would be dramatically more advanced.

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

@Iain__Fraser Even more harshly - one simply can't. It takes months if not years to truly change one's life

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

@chensiquan_ yess! louder! not enough people understand it

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

@thisdecfairy habits in general, not only financial:)

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

@neelhome I started to document &amp; post every day my 10.000 push-up challenge exactly for this reason. For now, 19 days in and I already feel a bit better in front of camera:)

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

Last days have been brutal.

A lot of to do, kid not sleeping at night, some social commitments, energy levels around 0.

But my 10.000 pushups challenge is still rolling.

Haven't posted yesterday as I didn't even had time to download footage to my laptop, but today I managed to get both days in here.

8.200 push-ups to go.

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

If you're mid your usual scrolling session &amp; don't love it, here's one thing that's actually worth reading today.

[Thisath @ThisathKR]

https://t.co/s8yNLhgMzr

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

@StephenStorey Me too! I had a lot of problems keeping it low and what solved it for me was financial commitment - I have ongoing bet with a friend and whoever go above 2.5h daily average in given week pays a fee to the other. it's weird but it works haha

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

@KateBour ideas make you feel good on day 1, commitment on day 100 - so the asymmetry is obvious

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

@Kpaxs I'd add "how important would it be in 20 years?" works great for some things that stress me out in the moment but are not *THAT* important

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

@wahoofitness Keep 'em easy runs easy they said...

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

@chensiquan_ It made me smile because I'm exactly at this low point with my 10.000 push-up challenge. But I keep going. 8.400 to finish:)

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

@DanielLockyer Add the ability to stay consistent &amp; you're set

[Adrian @adrianfarnaus]

True, but I'd add that for many people it's far easier to work on their motivators & affect their mood, than to act completely regardless of it.

Being reactive (aka changing behavior due to external factors) are often stuff that is evolutionary wired in us because it used to help with survival.

So while some people can be tough mentally in a way they can ignore everything that made their ancestors successful, most are far better off learning how to change their environment and mindset so that they are still reactive but have better inputs to react to.

When I don't have distractions open on my laptop (even better, when they're blocked) but just one app that I need to do work in (whatever it is at given moment), then I'm more likely to do exactly that instead of scrolling X.

When I wanted to do more pull-ups I installed a bar in my home and whenever I passed it I actually wanted to do a pull-up.

By changing environment you let go of the failure point - you making the right decision - and thus you're more likely to do what's in your best interest.