I just finished my third month long challenge. They’re not really that challenging, but it’s something for me to bust my cycle and try something with an end in site.
November
Have you ever heard of no-shave November? I tried this and succeeded. It was uncomfortable at times, but it allowed me to set my mind to something and make sure I stick to it. No matter how trivial and unimportant it might be.
December
In December, I decided to bring my lunch to work or eat at work every day. Usually I go out for lunch and spend more money than I really need. This was mostly a way to get myself to not spend so much each week on lunches. Since then I’ve been better about not going out for lunch as much.
January
I didn’t really plan on doing anything for January, but after about 4-5 days, I realized I hadn’t yet been on Facebook. I determined that I’d use some non-Facebook activity as my January challenge. I just checked today (Feb 1st) and realized that I didn’t really miss much. A couple friend requests and a message from my lil sister was all.
I was (somewhat narcissistically) hoping that I’d open up Facebook and see that I had hundreds of requests and all sorts of missed invites and opportunities. That wasn’t the case. It kind of backs up my hypothesis that nothing really happens on Facebook.
February
Starting today I’m going to make sure I read at least 30 minutes every day. I enjoy reading but never really “find the time” to do so. I put “find the time” in quotes because there’s plenty of time in the day. I just make excuses. Hopefully my success with these tiny challenges will get me reading again.
The best part of this is that these only go on for one month. They’re easier than resolutions that encompass a whole year and they’re not really that tough to do. Also, since I get to pick these things, they’re fun and I can make my own rules. So going back to the January Challenge… If you felt like I was ignoring you on Facebook over the last month, I’m sorry. I was just messing around with another challenge. :)
Chris Missal 