Have you ever had a zero day?

It’s one of those days where you pretty much did nothing to improve your current self.

It’s a day spent browsing social media aimlessly, watching Netflix, daydreaming, and entertaining a better life you could be living.

A day of unfulfilled challenges and wishful thinking.

A zero day is a day of being Average.

Do you know what Average Joe and Plain Jane spend their days thinking of?

“If only I was born into better conditions.”

“If only I was dealt a better hand in the lottery of birth.”

“If only I was as smart and successful as Bill Gates.”

“Netflix-ing the day away sounds great right now.”

Sorry, but a million other people are thinking the same thing right now.
They’re spending today as a zero day.

Here’s why I hope this post will be different than some of the other ones.

People say all the time “You just need to challenge yourself.”

But I personally think this is halfheartedly offered advice. It’s something that’s 1000x easier said than done. After all, sometimes it’s just hard to hold ourselves accountable everyday 100% of the time.

I mention this because let’s be honest, we sometimes crave an audience. We want another set of eyes to validate that we indeed did something above average. We want people to know that we scored above average on an exam, or performed better at work, or burned off 20 pounds from our diet.

So here’s my hypothesis - When someone else challenges us and holds us accountable, we take it 100 times more seriously.

So guess what, dear reader. I’ll challenge you to stop being average.

I challenge you to do/be/experience more today than you did yesterday.

To do 1% more today than you did yesterday. To have no more zero days.

• Don’t feel like exercising today?
  
  I challenge you to do 5 push-ups right now.
  
  Can you do it? I bet you can’t. Prove me wrong.
  
  And then I challenge you to imagine yourself tomorrow thinking “Wow, I’m glad that I did those 5 push-ups yesterday instead of not doing anything.”
• Still in the TV-watching groove?
  
  I challenge you to do 5 sit-ups when the commercials hit. Or 5 jumping jacks. Or read 2 pages in a book. Or find out what the difference between “data” and “information” is. Or tackle a question on your homework assignment.
  
  Learn something new. Do something more.
• Want a quick buck?
  
  I challenge you to sell something that you don’t need online. Whether it’s your old college text books, PlayStation, or your clothes. Selling something online has never been easier.
  
  How?
  
  Make a Facebook post with pictures of items you’re selling. Post it on Amazon, Ebay, Craigslist. Call or text a friend. Start somewhere.
• I challenge you to gamify your life. Every time you do 1% more today than yesterday, you get 1 point.
  
  - You saw a donut but said “Not today”? 1 point.
  - You jogged for an extra 5 minutes today? 1 point.
  - You studied for 30 minutes today when you only studied for 10 minutes yesterday? Awesome. Here’s 1 point.
  - You read 5 pages more than you did yesterday? Another one.
  - You smoked 1 less cigarette? I’m genuinely happy for you. Take a point.
  
  I challenge you to get 100 points. When you do, reward yourself with a nice dinner, a new book, or a fancy pen. Keep track of your score on paper and hang it up on your bedroom door.
  
  Why?
  
  Because every time you enter and leave your room, you’ll see your score-sheet. It helps to visualize your progress.
• And lastly, I challenge you to declare to someone that you are absolutely done with being average.
  
  Tell your boss, your co-workers, your spouse, your parents, your best friend, your siblings. Tell whoever. Make a public declaration on Facebook or Twitter.
  
  “Hey Boss, I’ve decided to be more disciplined with how I spend my time at work. Chime in when you see me distracting myself.”
  “Hey dear, I want to be more serious about my diet. Don’t buy anymore junk food and hold me accountable if you see me eating unhealthy food.”
  
  “Hey best friend, I want to be a better student and I know you’re really smart. Can you hold me accountable for studying better and not distracting myself with my phone and games?”
  
  “Hello, world! This public Facebook post serves as my verbal contract that I will start exercising for at LEAST 20 minutes everyday in the next month! Hit me up if you want to be a work out buddy! Check up on me by the end of this month, I won’t let anyone down!”
  
  Basically, have other people hold you accountable and involved with your success.

If you really, really want to stop being average, you’ll challenge yourself in some way to accomplish above average things regardless of your circumstances.

The hard truth is that if you don’t want to be better today than you were yesterday and you find yourself automatically deferring to excuses like “I’m just too lazy” or “I just don’t want to right now” then maybe you deserve your seat next to Average Joe and Plain Jane.

If you’re not doing something above average today, you won’t magically be above average tomorrow. You need above average effort for above average results.

And for those who are interested, I actually do follow this advice.
In the past 3 days, I’ve learned how to cook (mediocre) scrambled eggs, ran for 1.5 miles after not having run in ages, and can almost do 30 push ups in a row.

Are these “feats” impressive? Not really. But I’m better today than I was yesterday.
I can scratch “Beating yesterday’s Kevin” off my list today.

It’s a great read, but requires application.

I’m getting a fair amount of comments/messages from people who say how much this post inspires and motivates them. This is both heartening and worrisome to hear. Heartening because I hope that renewed energy will help you take those next steps to be the best version of yourself. And worrisome because I question how long that motivational energy will last.

There is a huge difference between discipline and motivation. Discipline is focused on rigid adherence and long-term results. You do it because you have to, regardless if it’s 1 week, 1 month, or 1 year into your self-improvement regime. Motivation, on the other hand, makes you only do something because you feel like it, for the time being. Motivation is fickle, unreliable, and will only last you for the 2 or so weeks that you have it. When you don’t want to do something, you falter. And then you gradually stop.

When it comes to wanting to strive towards being above average, whatever that might mean to you, recognize that there is a compounding effect. You won’t magically become amazing after 1 or 2 weeks, or even after 1 or 2 months (although you’ll be better than before by this time), so don’t let that deter you from giving it your all in the long-term. Try to make “doing just a bit more” an everyday habit for yourself, and you will realize that hard work and discipline, not in-the-moment motivation, delivers results.