Random Tuesdays that Change Your Life

Each month when I flip my calendar, I add a few notes to the space outside the month. One of which is: “Plank, Aug 10, 2021.” It’s a reminder to myself that every day since August 10, 2021, I’ve been doing a 2-minute forearm plank, inspired by a former colleague. Last month, when I flipped the calendar and auto-pilot started to copy down the note, I found myself thinking how that’s a pretty cool thing I’ve done in my life—over a thousand days of daily planks.

Of course, that made me think about my other “dailys” and especially my daily Happiness is, the thing that kicked off The Smile Project as an organization. I’ve been recording daily joy since November 9, 2011. 

I was thinking about these two days and numbers and it got me thinking that some of the most remarkable things I’ve done for myself have come on a random unprepared day. 

The first day I did a 2 minute forearm plank came after months of hearing this colleague talk about planks. Two minutes didn’t sound like that long. I shook like a feather in a rainstorm. I didn’t necessarily anticipate doing it the next day. But I was instantly humbled and I took the challenge. 

I didn’t make the decision to spend 3 and a half years planking—a duration that comes to 1.86 days of plank time which is kind of mind boggling. All I did was get off my desk chair and commit to two minutes of something.

Perhaps this serves then, as a good reminder for anyone who has been struggling with a resolution they meant to begin on January 1. 

Some of my favorite memories are random Tuesdays. Some of my most life changing decisions happened in the middle of a month in the middle of a year.

It’s not too late to think about who you were with that end of year energy, think of what you wanted, think of what you thought was possible. It’s not too late to make it reality.