Going from zero push-ups to three is a bigger jump than going from fifty to fifty-three.

The first few repetitions are not a smaller version of the achievement. They are a different achievement, because zero to three crosses the line between not doing something and doing it, and that crossing is where the entire difficulty sits. Adding three to fifty is maintenance on a decision already made. The arithmetic matches and the two have almost nothing in common.

If you are at zero on something, aim absurdly low and begin today. Three counts. The number can grow later, and the crossing only has to happen once.