When I started my gym streak in 2022, some friends asked if I was doing ‘75 hard’. I hadn’t heard of it at the time. But I later learned it was a fitness challenge where you’d attempt to document 75 days of consecutive exercise.
This past March, I passed 750 days of gym. That’s ten ‘75 hard’ challenges in a row.
I remember thinking early on that even reaching 100 days would be an unlikely feat. And yet here we are 700+ days later… When people learn about the streak, they often ask me why I started, what I’ve learned, and what my end goal is.
The real reason I started was to redefine myself.
Before starting, it had become obvious to me that sharing one's ambitions, learnings, and personality publicly offered huge upside. I had seen it in observing others and, even with my own personal website and newsletter, had experienced some of this myself.
But, in the words of Steven Pressfield, a powerful resistance often emerges. A voice in the back of your head that with any ambitious endeavor incites fear and self-doubt. What would my colleagues, friends, and family think? Wouldn’t it be embarrassing to post X, Y, or Z into a void? What if I get called out for being a fraud?
The reason I started the gym streak was to face these fears. I thought, “Perhaps if I made a daily habit of posting to no audience and to no recognition (and could see that my fears were misguided), then maybe sharing in other areas of my life would be easier as well.”
This has proven true.
Since starting the gym streak, I’ve shared more via social media, my website, and my newsletter than ever before and have seen direct benefits as a result: new job opportunities, new friendships, new insights. But, most importantly, my character and identity have matured in the process. I’ve gone from identifying as a reclusive introvert to an open-sourced autodidact.
And that’s what I’m most proud of.
Of course, the gym streak has yielded benefits in other areas of life as well: (1) Scrolling through the hundreds of gym days has been a powerful reminder of what I’m capable of. (2) The streak has served as a useful, socially acceptable reason for why I can’t skip the gym when others ask. (3) And it’s also been a practical progress diary. Something I’m sure I’ll appreciate even more as I age.
In terms of end goal, there never was one. There is no ideal physique or final day count or any grand event I’m training for.
A new internet friend recently asked me, “What does success look like to you in the next decade?” I told him that my goal was to build my life around my passions: (1) books/writing, (2) podcasts, and (3) exercise/gym. If I could spend my days, weeks, months, and years toggling between these activities, that would make for a rewarding life.
The reason I chose the infinity symbol as the logo for The Idea Exchange newsletter and my podcast was, in part, to communicate this. To remind myself and others that the podcast, my monthly essays, my reading, the gym streak… there is no “end”.
The goal is to make progress with my passions until my death.
