What if I told you of a pill that makes you smarter, helps you lose weight and build muscle, fights off depression, improves your ability to work longer and harder, and prevents numerous life-threatening conditions including heart disease and diabetes? What would you pay for this pill—$10, $50, maybe $100?
Now, what if I told you this pill could change your destiny by making you successful and perhaps famous, if fame is a dream of yours? And what if I told you this pill could give you the confidence to do anything you put your mind to? How much might the pill be worth to you now? $1,000? Maybe $10,000?
I’ll make it even more interesting: What if I told you this pill comes with zero percent financing? How much debt would you be willing to incur to get the power of this pill?
But wait — there’s more! Did I mention that this pill could also help you attract the woman or man of your dreams? Before you decide how much you’d pay for it, take a few minutes to daydream about the power of this pill. Close your eyes and visualize what you would do with this power. Ask yourself: Where would I go? What would I do? Who is the woman or man of my dreams and what would we do together? What would this happiness feel like? Would I change the world? What would I buy with my newfound wealth?
Now that you’ve considered how good this pill could make you feel, and how it could change the course of your life, what would you think if I told you that you must reserve thirty minutes a day for the pill to work?
Thirty minutes; that’s it. Does knowing about this thirty-minute commitment change your mind about how much the pill is worth? I bet it doesn’t. I bet you’d give up more than thirty minutes for the power of this pill. Think about the things you do each day that take thirty minutes or more: getting ready for school or work, watching TV, surfing the Internet, reading the newspaper.
Okay, so here’s the final catch: The pill doesn’t work overnight. You have to take it every day for about thirty days to feel a difference, sixty days to see a difference, and ninety days to make a difference. Still interested in taking the pill? How much does it cost? It’s FREE! And there’s no time limit on the offer.
The title of Action #3, Exercise to Execute, in my book, Be Unstoppable, probably gave you a big clue to the kind of pill I’m referring to, but the beauty of this metaphor is that it’s 100 percent true. Okay, so exercise doesn’t come in a pill, and you have to work during the thirty minutes mentioned above, but exercise can be your secret weapon for making your dreams come true. I’m living proof. Exercise helped me beat asthma, and it gave me the confidence to try out for my high-school rowing team. My success in rowing led to being recruited to the Naval Academy, where I gained the courage to try out for the SEALs. As a SEAL, I became a student of exercise and learned how to use it to unlock my potential. Exercise led me from the SEALs to business school to inventing the Perfect Pushup. Exercise has been my swim buddy throughout my life. It’s given me the confidence and courage to face my fears, the stamina and strength to go after my dreams, and yes, I even credit exercise with helping me attract the woman of my dreams.
Not Sure How to Get Started? No Problem. Try the Plan Below and Exercise to Execute.
It’s an exercise-habit-forming, twenty-one-day plan to help you work toward your goal. I find that the best time to exercise is first thing in the morning; it’s too easy to tell yourself that you’ll do it later in the day and then find excuses not to. Don’t make any excuses; just do it!
Day 1: How many push-ups can you do without stopping? Be honest and stop as soon as you can no longer perform a push-up using perfect form. Can’t do a push-up from the plank position? No problem; drop your knees to the floor and do as many as possible from that starting position.
Day 2: Go for a thirty-minute walk. Can’t do thirty straight minutes? No problem; divide it into shorter times until you can do it! If you can only do five minutes at a time, do that six times for a total of thirty minutes over the course of the day.
Day 3: Perform your maximum number of push-ups one at a time. For example, if you can do ten, start in the standing position, squat down, perform a push-up, stand back up, and repeat nine more times.
Day 4: Repeat Day 2.
Day 5: Repeat Day 3.
Day 6: Repeat Day 2.
Day 7: Have fun and go outside to play!
Day 8: Perform a one-set maximum of push-ups again, but afterward stand up and do as many individual ones (standing between each one) as possible. How many extra ones can you do: three, five, seven, more? Whatever the number, make it your new maximum.
Day 9: Go for a thirty-minute walk. Even if you had to use six increments of five minutes each in Day 2, you can probably do it all at once now.
Day 10: Do your new maximum number of push-ups one at a time, standing between each one.
Day 11: Repeat Day 9.
Day 12: Repeat Day 10.
Day 13: Repeat Day 9.
Day 14: Repeat Day 10.
Day 15: Go have fun!
Day 16: Perform a one-set maximum of push-ups, but stand up afterward and do as many individual ones (standing between each one) as possible. How many extra ones can you do: three, five, seven, more? Whatever the number, make it your new maximum.
Day 17: Go for a thirty-minute walk. You’re probably covering more distance in thirty minutes now than you were in Day 2 or even Day 9.
Day 18: Do your new maximum number of push-ups one at a time, standing between each one.
Day 19: Repeat Day 17.
Day 20: Repeat Day 18.
Day 21: Repeat Day 17.
Day 22: Get Fired Up! You’re on your way to being unstoppable!
