By: dierk schaefer

Sometimes, I have to fool my brain.

“Will I feel better if I do 30 push ups before I go to sleep? I mean, about myself?”
Yes, probably.

“Can I do 30 pushups, especially if I break it into two sets of 15?”
Yes.

“Do I want to do 30 pushups?”
No.

“But I should.”
Yes.

“I don’t want to do 30 pushups.”
Then don’t.

“But I should.”
Yes.

“So I’m just going to get down on the ground and do 30 pushups.”
No.

“Can I do 15 pushups?”
Yes.

“So I’m just going to get down on the ground and do 15 pushups.”
No.

“Can I do 5 pushups?”
Yes.

“So I’m just going to get down on the ground and do 5 pushups, right now,  before I do anything else, even taking this drink of water.”
Sure. Why not. That seems really stupid simple.

While I am down on the ground, I end up doing 20 pushups in one shot.

By: Taras Kalapun

Now, after this, there is no way (now) that I will go to bed without doing at least 30 pushups.

(After all, I am already done with 20 of the 30.)

Chances are even good, that I will do more than 30 before I go to bed.

But if I had committed to 30 at the outset, I never would have done one.

So I committed to 5 instead.

Next time you are having a hard time getting yourself to do something that seems difficult or that you don’t want to do, break it down to a stupid simple level.

Then tie that activity to something really *human basic*… like “I will do this before I go to the bathroom”, or “I will do this before I get a glass of water”, or “I will do this before I eat”, or “I will do this before the next time I stand up”.

(Side note: Then make sure to actually go to the bathroom, or take the drink of water, or get something to eat.)

I once heard this said as “commit to doing 1 pushup everyday, and you will find yourself doing a lot more.”

Have you tried this method?

Does this method of brain trickery/brain hacking work for you?