It is a risk that I have taken with that click bait title. 80%* of people will not read this post after reading this title. If you are reading this, you are in the remaining 20%. Anyone who knows Pareto will know that this 20% is what matters.
What I am up to in this post? Nothing much really. I was in a boring meeting the other day and slowly zoned out to my world and flagged off the thought-train. I don’t quite remember why but I was thinking about will-power and self-control. So, I decided to do an experiment. I have seen TED and YouTube videos about taking up 30-day challenges to keep oneself “alive”. I decided to take up one. I scouted for the easiest one and found many success stories about drinking 3.5 litres of water every day. People seem to have overcome many real life problems by just doing this one thing. Since the summer was at its peak anyway, I decided to take up this challenge.
My expectations based on the success stories included considerable weight loss, acne-free clear skin (not really), increased metabolism and lots of trip to the loo each day. Out of these four, only the last one worked out and that is not an improvement by any means. My weight only fluctuated a little bit. It went up and then came down to what I started with. My expectations were clearly not met. But I cannot dismiss this off as a complete failure.
I did observe few positive changes. I have not been this alert during the day before. Even in boring meetings. Earlier, I used to get literally tired of boring meetings. But I can now see myself being more alert and generally in a good mood. I hope it is not just a co-incidence. I was also well hydrated to beat the heat. Consciously drinking and monitoring the water intake, (I used Water Drink Reminder android app from Leap Fitness Group), did help sustain and complete the challenge. This is the most consistent thing that I have done in recent times I think. So, I do feel good.
I should probably take another 30-day challenge, a difficult one, and see how I fare.
As a parting note, don’t ever believe anyone or anything that says ‘Do this one thing and you will be shocked to see the results’. There is no magic pill. That reminds me, I may possibly have another post about the magic pill. Coming soon.
Cheers!
* 80% is just a number that I made up to make this interesting and to quote Pareto.
