“The new year is a promise of hope, change, and new beginnings”. Cliche? Yes. But the thing about cliches is, they’re true. C’mon, all of us see the new year with positivity.
Sticking to a resolution for an entire year seems like a bit of a daunting task, doesn’t it?
For the tiny bit of OCD in you that makes you wait until the beginning of the week, of the month, and of the year to make changes, STOP!
What I now propose is the perfect solution! The 30-day challenge! This 30 day challenge is bound to help you see through all of your plans and even make room for some new ones!
THE 30 DAY CHALLENGE
Why 30? Cause it is doable! It’s long enough but not too long. Also, it satiates the need for order.
HOW IT WORKS
Here’s how the 30-day challenge is: You choose a task which you vow to yourself to continue for 30 days straight like running, eating healthy, reading a book, coding, yadda yadda yadda.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be a habit formation. It can also be something you wish to learn. Just promise yourself to spend a fixed amount of time learning it every day!
RULES
For any challenge to work, you have to make it your own. Here, I have made a list for you to give your challenge a personal touch.
1. NAME IT AND OWN IT
Give your personal challenge a cool name (#30NoBread or #30ToShred) that makes you wanna stick to it. Now own it and make it your own. Something that you’re doing just for yourself and not to prove anything or show anyone.
2. ACCOUNTABILITY
An essential aspect is to make yourself accountable. There are many ways to go about this:
- Choose your human
Chose someone who can make you work and won’t melt with your puppy dog eyes. Someone who’s strict and can keep you motivated. Choose wisely and ask them to keep a track of your progress. - Social Media
Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter. Choose your platform and make a hashtag of it. Post your progress every day. This way you will keep you moving and keep bringing in mass motivation. - Blog it up
Start your own blog and as part of your challenge track and log your progress there! Blogging can be especially useful when you are trying to learn something new. This is because it gives you something to show for at the end of the challenge.For example, if it’s something like coding then a great GitHub profile to go forward with. Check out this article for easy websites to track your progress. - Community Building
Chances are whatever it is that you’re trying to achieve, someone else is too. So why not make use of it? You can always team up with your friends and promise to keep pushing each other. Or even betting on it and seeing who wins? Whatever floats your boat. - Tell Everyone
Telling people what you’re trying to achieve is a great way to keep reminding yourself to stick to it. People may not take it seriously and brush you aside, but it’s the reminder of your goal that matters and not how people react to it. This challenge is for yourself and you do not need to care what other people have to say about it!
3. INCREASE THE INTENSITY
To feel the thrill of the challenge, another thing you can try is to increase the intensity as you go by. That is to gradually increase the number of hours you put in, bit by bit.
4. RIGIDITY
It’s important to stick to your goals, but it’s equally important to account for human nature. We’re bound to have days when you have to call it a day. Be it due to workload, family vacations or personal breakdowns.
So instead of stopping completely let’s limit these to only say 5 (or choose a number for yourself) days during the entire challenge! It’s okay to have a couple of cheat days.
All the best for the next 30 days! Let us know in the comments below what your challenge is going to be and find partners for the same!
