Compare your reaction to these two statements:
“I commit to doing sit-ups every day for an entire year!”
“I commit to doing sit-ups every day for 30 days!”
Which one seems more realistic to you? More inviting? More likely that you would actually follow through?
Bold Goals and Quick Hits
I love Bold Goals – big, stretch goals that require dedication, mindset shifts, and essentially becoming a stronger, different person than I was when I started. But we need shorter-term, jumpstart goals too – commitments that kick us into gear without feeling the need to stay there indefinitely. Quick hits of achievement, so to speak.
Lately I’ve found myself intrigued by the challenges floating around: 30 days of clean eating, 21 days of meeting new people, 40 days without coffee. (Ok, I’m not even a little intrigued by that last one.) I hosted a 10-day journaling challenge this past fall on Instagram and Facebook with great response. So just before 2017 rolled around, I decided that in addition to my three Bold Goals for the year, I would also set a series of 30-day challenges – daily actions done long enough to potentially form a habit but brief enough to avoid overwhelm.
My January challenge involves daily sit-ups. I didn’t pre-determine how many to do each day or a total for the month; I just committed to doing sit-ups every day in January.
Guess what? I’ve done sit-ups every day in January. Some days I wake up and do a bunch right off the bat; other days as I’m drifting off to dreamland at night, I realize with a start that I haven’t done any, climb out of bed, and quickly zip off a few before falling asleep. I am tracking them not to judge myself, but merely to indicate whether or not I’ve done them. As I’ve said a million times, you attract what you track!
Some of my other possible 30-day challenges:
- Send a daily thank-you card
- Make a daily donation
- Play ukulele every day
- Blog daily
- Write a daily poem
- Daily push-ups
- Surprise a client each day
- Engage in a daily adventure/out-of-the-ordinary
I’m keeping a list of ideas in my journal and, a few days before a new month begins, I’ll decide the next 30-day challenge. These little spurts keep me growing and stretching, yet don’t have time to become stagnant. We can do just about anything for 30 days, right?
Your Positive Action
Ready to institute a 30-day challenge of your own? Consider all areas of your work, leadership, and life, asking yourself the question I posed at the start: What action, if taken daily for 30 days, would make the biggest difference? Keep it simple so you can build momentum from your success.
Like John Maxwell wrote, “You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.” Give the rotating 30-day challenge a try and see what changes for you!