Although time-bound challenges can be effective for behavior modifications, many people fail to reach the finish line. Here are a few things to keep in mind before you jump on the 30-day challenge bandwagon:
👍PROS: Changing habits is hard. With it comes great pressure and self-doubt as you think about committing to "forever." In the big picture of the year, 30-days is a period just long enough for you to experiment with what works and what doesn't work. You can begin to understand how the change affects you emotionally, physically, socially and spiritually. A challenge allows you to open your mind to new possibilities or a new ways of doing things and gives you confidence and a sense of accomplishment. Plus, it can put you well on your way to making something an actual habit.
👎CONS: A fixed-time challenge can be a great way to kickstart a new activity but it takes more than 30-days to ingrain a new habit. You can't rush the process in 30-days. While you may be motivated to reach a goal, there's no quick fix to long-term problems. More so, many challenges are oriented toward short-term results and not effective for long-term changes. It's not uncommon at the end of those 30 days for people to give up and return to previous habits (or worse habits due to frustration or relief that the challenge is complete). The outcome often becomes about reaching a goal or finishing the challenge, rather than on changing behaviors to maintain the change in a sustainable way.
Because you can't turn life into a series of 30-day challenges, it's important to make changes because they are important to you. A habit is a learned automatic response. To form a new habit - or to break a bad one - you must make the commitment to change, initiate the new behavior and continue to work at it until it becomes part of who you are and how you live. A challenge should align with your values and should be realistic for your lifestyle - in other words, it should make your life easier or less stressful, not cause you distress. Avoid the all or nothing, pass or fail mentality and approach the challenge with good intentions.
As featured in the latest Trimarni newsletter, here are a few challenge ideas to implement into your routine for the next 30-days:
- Everyday, write down one thing you are grateful for.
- Engage in some type of movement for 30-minutes everyday (can be split up into segments).
- Drink at least 8-ounces of water every time you eat (meals and snacks).
- Consume 1 cup of fruits and 1 cup of vegetables every day.
- Meditate for 5 minutes every day.
- Eat breakfast every morning (within 2 hours of waking).
- Commit to a random act of kindness everyday.
- Floss your teeth every day.
- Take a photo of something that makes you happy everyday.
- Pay for everything with cash for the next 30-days. At the end of each day, put all loose change (or $1 bills) in the charge to use as an emergency fund.
- Declutter (or organize) your house by one location (or drawer/shelf) everyday for the next 30-days.
- Do something that makes you happy for 20-minutes everyday.
- Get up ten minutes earlier every morning.
- Limit non-business related social media usage to no more than 30-minutes a day.