It’s already December (seriously?), and you know what that means… Yup, January is right around the corner!
With the New Year comes the idea of a clean slate, a fresh start, a new beginning. That’s why it’s so easy to make a new commitment on January 1st.
But, there’s a problem…
Making a resolution is easy… Sticking to a resolution is another story. In the numerous resolutions I made throughout the years, I don’t think I had ever stuck to one. No matter how great my intentions were when I made it, it just seemed next-to-impossible to follow through…. That is, until two years ago, when (light bulb moment) I made it into a game.
Yup, that’s right. I love games and challenges, so making it into a game with clear, time-bound goals, made it not only fun to stick with my resolutions, but I look forward to it each year.
I also needed a way to incorporate more than one resolution into my new game. I’ve never been the type to have only one resolution-to-end-all-resolututions. I had tons floating around in my head that I wanted to try.
I decided to make 12 separate resolutions, each lasting 30 days. Basically, one each month (give or take a day) for the year. After the 30 days, I wanted to evaluate my progress, keeping the ones that worked in my life, and graduating the ones that didn’t. Here are just a few examples of my 30-Day Challenges:
- 5 Minute Meditation
- Gratitude Journal
- Daily Hot Yoga
- Practice Guitar for an Hour
- Take Vitamins
- No Caffeine (This one may have been the hardest, lol)
- No Complaining
As you can see, there was quite the variety of things that I wanted to try. I made sure they were spaced out properly, avoiding two extremely difficult challenges in a row. For instance, after the “hot yoga” challenge, I tried “taking vitamins everyday”. My challenge went from a 90 minute commitment each day to about 30 seconds. This scattering was helpful for me to “see the light at the end of the tunnel” during the more difficult challenges.
And, here’s the great part: The challenges that worked, I stuck with. Two years later, I still meditate on a daily basis, I still keep a gratitude journal, and I still practice my guitar.
Because each challenge was limited to 30 days, I was able to stick with it, knowing that it would only become indefinite if it served me well and I liked what it brought to my life. The others (i.e. no caffeine) proved to myself that I could do it if ever I had to…. but hopefully that day will never come. 😉
Now, I would LOVE to hear from you! What resolution did you want to try in the past, but thought the commitment was too much? Have you tried it as a 30-Day Challenge? If so, what was your experience?
Feel free to leave a comment in the box below, or private message me here.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Until then, keep being amazing.
