Like everyone says, exercise. Eliminating the friction completely is what will allow you to rise above your current state, as it did for me. The alternative t

Like everyone says, exercise. Eliminating the friction completely is what will allow you to rise above your current state, as it did for me. The alternative that finally allowed me to rise above my long-time regular state was at-home, short, but intense exercise. I do pushups. No need to go to the gym. There is nothing to prepare. It's literally an instantaneous start. And it takes very little time out of my schedule. The problem most people have with exercising is that they decide to change and try it for a bit but the effort is too great and they relapse to the base state. Going to the gym takes time and planning, and if you do get there, you don't do it right. I know I didn't. Half-assed effort at the various machines to hit the major muscle groups, then go home. We all know we should take a notebook to the gym and track progress to force ourselves to push the boundaries, but how many people actually do that? I never brought a notebook to the gym in my life. For a short while, I tried an app instead. Poor design, too much hassle, no good alternatives. Some of the great things about a pushups-only workout: - no friction to start (eg: trip to gym, clothing, schedule) - super short (10 to 20 minutes every other day) - develops a great-looking upper body and abs - works a crazy number of muscles (pushups incorporate planking) - having a notebook to track progress is no hassle since you're at home - keeps the abs tight, not allowing food extra room to linger in your intestines In terms of tracking progress, I came across hundredpushups.com. No, they don't try to sell you anything. They just provide an excellent exercise schedule and the goal is to be able to crank out a hundred pushups by the end of the schedule. Sounds ambitious but it's not really. Their schedule forces you to be laser focused on one thing: cranking out some extra pushups every session. The progress that results from such intense focus is amazing. For some numbers: I used to do about 30 pushups at any given point in life before this. My latest max is 85 pushups straight. I can do 200 pushups in about 10 or 12 minutes with 60 second breaks in between. I can get behind a program that involves only 10 minutes every other day with phenomenal results! While pushups aren't for everyone, try to figure out a workout that: takes very little time is intense doesn't require travel or preparation