Learning Non-Negotiable 20™

I know. I’ve known for years. I’ve been stacking healthy habits for a good long while now: daily movement, mornings that belong to me, and a handful of promises I keep no matter what. You’d think by now I’d have this whole getting-out-of-my-own-way thing completely handled. And then life hands me a fresh, friendly reminder that I’m still a work in progress.

This site is built around twenty minutes of movement a day, every day, no matter what. So alcohol looks like a swerve. It’s actually where the road started. The Non-Negotiable 20™ did not start in a gym. It started on an ordinary Monday afternoon in southern California, with a beer I had already decided I didn’t want, handed to me by someone being kind. I took it. And something inside me went very quiet.

Some of the best workouts don’t look like workouts at all. This past weekend, a group of friends traded their usual networking and social events for pickleball paddles and a little friendly competition. The turnout was wonderful. The competition was spirited, the laughs were plentiful, and the sense of community was as strong as ever.

Rocky terrain. Rock scrambling. Elevation on the way up, and just as tough coming down. Little sleep. Full sun. A heavy pack. It was hard. I was quieter than usual, conserving energy, determined to finish strong.

Most fitness plans fail for a reason nobody wants to say out loud: they ask for too much. An hour at the gym means clean workout clothes, drive time, a shower afterward — suddenly a “workout” costs two hours. On a busy day, that’s impossible. On a travel day, it’s a logistical nightmare. So you skip. And once you skip once, skipping twice gets much easier.

On December 31, 2022, I made a personal decision: I was going to do some kind of physical fitness every single day.

On September 26th, I reached a milestone that still blows me away: 1,000 consecutive days of working out.