Tips on Starting a 30 day challenge

[MartinP]

Hi,

I have been reading alot about other people's 30 day challenges (it's really motivating), and want to start one myself in the next few days.

Just read a post by Steve Pavlina about 30 day challenges:

30 Days to Success

But would like to get any other tips about starting a 30 day challenge.
Especially:
1. Picking the right challenge
2. Sticking to it
3. Anything that maximises the chances of success

Thanks!

[CoolBee]

First thing I consider is whether it is the right time!

For example, a 30 day challenge involving dietary changes or restrictions may not be best started when you have several social engagements around food to attend - a wedding, a visit to mother who always force feeds you cake, meals out, etc..

So, check your diary for the month ahead in the context of the challenge you want to undertake and see if on the face of it it is doable without too much temptation to backslide and plan how you will deal with obstacles.

For me, every time I started a diet, and almost guaranteed to be on Day 1, it seemed that there were a rash of birthdays in the office and people would be bringing armloads of cakes in almost daily. My self-control in the face of a cake is virtually non-existent so I would start such a thing when I was out of the office for a few days to get some 'successful' days under my belt before meeting the cake challenge!

Second, cater for likely obstacles so you don't quit through not being 100% perfect:

If you are female and want to do a 30 day challenge involving physical exercise, then you need to be conscious of your monthly period you may well experience greater knee pain, so perhaps you need to plan ahead to adapt your physical exercise regime around those days.

Plan ahead for known challenges, and plan tactics for dealing with unexpected challenges so that you don't do the 'its all messed up and not perfect' thing. Eg turn up to the swimming pool for your daily 50 lengths or whatever and find that its closed for a kiddies' swimming gala - what will you do instead so you don't feel defeated.

It also helps if you are a "perfectionist quitter" type (i.e. if it isn't 100% then its a complete fail) to set a level at which you will be happy - eg 80% - if you do it 4 days out of 5 (or 24 days out of 30) declare it a good success!

3. Don't be a fool!

I just reread Steve's post which you linked to above about going running with a cold at 2am. Well, I wouldn't recommend it. In 2000 I was pretty fit - covering 40 miles a week walking/running and swimming 2 miles a day 4 or 5 days a week plus other stuff. I got a chest infection which put me out for a couple of weeks. I felt 'better' for a couple of days and went straight back into my regime and ended up with pneumonia which took 2 weeks of heavy antibiotics to clear and left me unable to walk up a flight of stairs without my pulse racing at 150 for 6 months and skipping heart beats for the next few years.

So, I guess, set yourself some conditions under which you will be KIND to yourself without considering yourself a failure!

[emeadow]

I am one of those that picked up the 30 day after some of Steve's articles, and LOVE IT.

Here are my top tips
-Find the right challenge aligned with your motivation
-Set yourself up for success with pre planning
-Accept struggles as just a learning and growth process

I usually meditate or consider my next challenge for a week or two until I have it aligned with what I feel is 'truly' motivating me at the time. For example, I wanted to try a raw diet probably over 6 months ago, but for some reason when I pictured myself making the change it just didn't feel right. I could not see myself completing the challenge, so I did not attempt it. I decided to focus on other items that I could actually see myself completing. 6 months later, suddenly I was super motivated to try raw, and so that is what I am tackling this month. I also usually have a one sentence reason as to WHY I am doing the challenge, that I can repeat to myself throughout the month. "I want to be healthy and vibrant ", or something like that, so that I can remind myself during difficult periods why I am challenging myself.

I look at my schedule for the month and plan that around my 30 day. For example, I did a 30 day unplugged challenge with no TV, PC, ect. But it was during the month of the superbowl, had a party to attend, ect. So I specifically outlined that I could watch the super bowl and one play-off game during my challenge. Those were my two exceptions in the month, and that worked out really well so that I was not stressed. I also had to consider what do I do with all that extra time I freed up. I went to the library and picked up a bunch of books, and I also made a list of projects to do around the house. My husband supported me by moving to the dining room for dinner instead of in front of the TV. I also loaded up tunes on my MP3 player before the challenge (I still allowed music), so that I could bop around the house with headphones when say my husband was watching TV so I wouldn't get distracted.

Be realistic in your expectations. Break your challenges into small pieces. If you come up with an item you want to tackle, and it seems too daunting, break it down even smaller. Say you want to run every day, but that seems unrealistic. Then make your 30 day putting on your workout clothes and shoes, and just moving for 30 minutes. You are setting the habit of getting in workout clothes and being active. Could be 30 minutes of exercise, yoga, walking, dancing, anything. If 30 minutes proves too difficult, break it down into 5 or 10 minutes a day first. Or set up a tiered increase for your 30 days......couple minutes the first day, and increment up 1 minute each day.

I personally like more complicated challenges. For me, if someone tells me I cannot do something, that fires me up quite a bit. Telling my friends and coworkers I was going to eliminate all TV and PC for 30 days was met with "thats impossible"....and that right there keeps me rolling better then anything during the tough times of a challenge. I pick my challenges to align with my personal goals first, then through accountability and skepticism from others, I find ways to get through the difficult periods.

Find what works for you, test a couple things keeping an open mind, and just have fun with it!! Its great to push your limits and grow, any attempt to do so no matter the results is a success in my mind

[hugofortin]

Thank you for the advices! I will follow them for sure.

I was thinking to start one myself, too.

bye

Hugo