30 days is a long time to hold out a new habit, especially if there is a little resistance. But 30 challenges in 30 days takes it to a whole new level.
I decided to do this after listening to the Menprovement Podcast, there is an episode on there that talks about a guy doing a 30 in 30 challenge. I was listening to it and decided that I could do it!
So I have a lot of challenges to do, a lot of daily activities that must be fulfilled and they are as follows:
The 30 Challenges:
- Daily spending limit of £1 – this is for commodity items i.e. I can’t go for lunch out, I can’t buy sandwiches or get a taxi, I will still be attending my gymnastics class
- Meet 1 person every day – this can become difficult if I am not constantly exposing myself to new people, but I can meet co-workers, people out on the street, I’m going to have to get a little creative
- Drink Water – I am going to drink water almost exclusively all day – the out for me here is Hemp shakes because I need to keep the fibre and protein up
- Minimum Workout – I am going to continue to train every day, my minimum workout is 100 Press ups, 30 Pull ups
- No Sugar – Like everyone I have far too much sugar in my diet, so I am cutting it all out flat.
- No Caffeine – Despite all my emphasis on a healthy lifestyle, I am a sucker for energy drinks. Well, I’m binning it!
- No Alcohol – I’m not a big drinker, but this will stop me going out on Friday evenings for no reason
- Up by 8:30 – I’m usually up at 5:30 on weekdays, but I want to get the most out of my weekends and any potential days off, so I am keeping it serious and making sure that I am up by 8:30 at the latest
- Bed by 9 – I want to get a lot of good quality sleep to help with my training, so as I am getting up for work so early, I’m going to go to bed early, this rule will be broken on Wednesdays because Gymnastics class doesn’t finish until 9:30, so it will be 10 Wednesdays
- Read 1 chapter – at the beginning of the year I was doing one a day, but with everything else going on, I need to start easier, so I am going to read 1 chapter per day.
- Cold Showers – We all know the benefits of cold showers, and they will give me a bit more grit over the course of the month, but I’ll be honest I’m not looking forward to those cold mornings
- No Fabbing – this is just a self-control thing, there is a lot of research out about the damaging effect that porn has on us, from social or sexual perspectives to the psychological impact it has on us
- No Social Media – I am basically going to cue up a month of Social for MoreThanLifting, but I am going to be more or less hands off over the course of June
- Write 1 Post every day – I will write at least 1000 words per day to get loads of new content ready for the site over the next year
- Volunteer once a week – Offer to do something for free once a week, this shouldn’t be too difficult, but there is a ton of resistance to it
- Weekly run in the trees – I go training down the trees every weekend, I am going to start doing runs after training, because I don’t tend to do as much as I should. I am also going to be running through the trees, on uneven ground ducking and weaving between the branches, not going for a jog.
- No Swearing – This will be hard, really hard, because I work with a bunch of Cockney Geezers who live and die on swear words alone. Because of this, I am not going to let myself fail the challenge just because I said shit once, instead I am going to be forfeiting every time I swear.
- 1 Chess Match – each day I am going to sit down and play a game of chess, great fun and it will improve my mind games.
- Keeping the challenge on me – I must always have my challenges on me at all times, no excuses, if someone asks, I have my proof at all time
- Video Log Daily – Each day I will log my progression, how I am doing, what went well or badly that day
- No TV, Netflix, Movies etc. – No video entertainment, it will make me procrastinate like hell, and I tend not to watch it too much anyway, this is just making it a rule
- Cook 1 meal a day – I eat mostly raw, but committing to one hot meal per day will keep me focused and make it a part of my daily ritual too
- Learn A Language – It is very difficult to master a new language in 30 days, but I am going to actively be taking steps to learn a language every day, in the hope that after a month I will be able to talk a little, and it will lay a solid foundation to master it over the next few months.
- Record 1 song every week – I am going to get my guitar in front of the camera and my mic and get a video recorded every weekend, to help me overcome any performance anxiety
- Record 1 video every week – I have neglected to get any videos up on YouTube! I will get some up over the next month I have to!
- Get rejected every day – this is another one for the anxiety, I haven’t ever really had to approach women, so I naturally struggle to do it now that me and my girlfriend have split up, this is a nudge in the right direction, I want to make myself uncomfortable with this to force me to adapt and develop.
- No self-medicating – Guys I’m a stoner, I always have been. But I know I need a detox, usually I would calm it down every few months but I haven’t for a while. Now is the time to pack it in.
- Meditate daily – I go through stages of doing this regularly and not, but it is so good for us, so I am getting back on it every day
- Wheatgrass daily – This is what made me slip before, I have avoided getting back into it, now it happens, I am going to get it in me every morning and lunch
- No Loopholing – this is more of a rule than a challenge, but it is basically not going to my friends so I can watch TV, or hanging out with one of my mates, because I know we will have a smoke at some point, NO CHEATING!
These challenges are going to be hard, there are a lot of things to do daily for the next month, but I’m looking forward to it in some ways. There are a few on there that I know I am going to struggle with – I’m sure you can work them out.
A few of them are going to be relatively easy, the others are going to be challenging, but I am looking forward to the 1st of July when I can tell you I have been successful!
I am hoping that I can continue with some of these challenges after I have completed the Challenge itself. I will be well on my way to turning them into a true habit, keeping myself on track.