30 Day Challenge

I’ve been dabbling with the idea of doing a 30 day challenge, I didn’t want a fitness one or one to necessarily do with weight. I’m losing weight well by myself at the minute so I don’t need the challenge for that.

I did a little search and came across some good ideas on Forbes

I found some of these intriguing as they’re not ones I’ve come across before.

Create daily white space in your calendar for 30 days. What would you do if you had just an hour to yourself every day? Make a goal to set time for yourself and you’ll be surprised at how much better you feel and how much more you get accomplished as a result. – This one sounds great, I always feel massively guilty about having time to myself and a month down the line I feel very strained and end up spending a day in bed, sleeping off my exhausted energy. I wonder if I carve myself an hour a day if it will make me feel better over the long-term

Eliminate sugar. This was extremely hard for me because sugar is in everything (and it tastes so good!). Studies indicate that sugar rots the teeth, impedes mental acuity, adds to obesity, increases chances of depression and serves as a stepping-stone towards diabetes. How’s that cupcake sound now? – This for me isn’t about weight, for me it’s about the risk of depression, diabetes and teeth. These are always areas of concern for me and until recently I hadn’t noticed how much sugar is in everything, even things you wouldn’t expect.

Read everyday. Read. In other words, look for the little slivers of time throughout your day where you can optimize.- I like the sound of reading a little everyday, I find that once I start a book, five hours have gone by and I’ve ‘lost’ an afternoon. I think I’d find it a challenge to have to put the book down after an hour.

Keep a Quid Pro Quo log for 30 days. Keep track of how much you “give” versus how much you “get.” Aim to increase the former.- This is a good one I feel. I’ve been trying to be more positive lately, I try to give to charities whenever I can, be polite and generally spread the good will and try to build people up. Though I don’t know if I want to do this as a challenge as it’s already something I’m actively trying to do.

Change your taste buds in 30 days. No, the veggie tofu sesame wrap with sprouts doesn’t sound good—nor does it taste good—but there are significant health benefits (mental and physical) to eating for performance versus eating what tastes yummy. Taste buds can be trained; they’ll adapt to whatever you want them to like through repetition. – This sounds very interesting, I don’t know if i’ll try tofu but i’d be willing to give quorn or vegetarian meals a more starring role in my diet. I’ve tried to increase my intake of fish for the benefits so this might be something to try to add as well.

Keep a surprise journal. When you record surprises you reveal blind spots; lapses in vision or erroneous judgment. These are extremely valuable as you can reflect upon these surprises and ask yourself, “how could I have anticipated this sooner?” – I try not to focus on ‘negative’ surprises as I really beat myself up for shoulda, woulda, coulda but it may be worth while having a look at things that have impacted me and see what I can learn from them.

I will update you when I’ve decided which one to do and when I’ll start it!