I’ve been writing about healthy habits & lifestyle for a while now.

However, I found that no matter how many articles & tips that I write, people seem to “read and forget”.

“Oh, that’s interesting”, they think.

And then never doing anything with it.

What if I could challenge people to do tiny, little things, every day, that will have a significant impact on their lives in the long run. Would be cool, right?

This is why I’ve been researching and thinking about “challenges”.

I’ve composed 10 unique challenges that anyone can do, which aren’t too hard (but can get harder over time, depending on your own willpower and motivation).

Duration

All of these challenges are 30 days.

Why 30 days? Simple, because it’s a month. And if you can do something for a month, you can do it for 2 months — or more.

It takes on average 90 days to form a new habit. So, based on this, there are always 3 stages in the challenges:

• 30 days
• 60 days
• 90 days

The goal is always to complete 30 days, but then start over or adjust it to your own preferences. Make it harder maybe. Or make it more challenging. Up to you!

P.S. these are 10 challenges, but don’t try to do them all at once. Start with one, and if it goes well then add another.

1. 30-Day Evening Planning Challenge

Any successful day starts with the evening before.

Think about what you want to achieve the next morning (or next day), and plan accordingly.

I have tested it multiple times:

• In the evening, I laid out my clothes for the next morning
• I prepared my workout materials
• I thought of what food I wanted to eat, and made sure it was present in the kitchen
• I set my task(s) I wanted to accomplish that day

And trust me — it makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE to when I don’t plan anything of this.

When I planned things, I woke up with a goal. I had a clear plan in mind. Everything is so much easier.

Just imagine it for yourself:

You wake up, get out of bed. You’re still feeling sleepy and not in the best mood.

• “Pfff what clothes should I wear?” vs “Aahh there are my clothes I prepared yesterday!”
• “I should work out but I’m feeling too tired” vs “mmm my yoga mat and weights are already here, let’s do it for a few mins..”
• “Let’s check social media, who sent me some messages?” vs “I am going to work on Task X like I planned”.
• “Mmm what should I eat today? Darn, I don’t have much food anymore” vs “Perfect, I have milk, fruits and oatmeal, let’s make it!”

See the difference? Planning is everything.

Try it. No, DO IT!

2. 30-Day No Complaint Challenge

Have you noticed that there are people who always seem to be happy and cheerful? And that there are also people who are always complaining?

If you are one of the latter… this challenge is for you.

The goals are simple:

• For 30 days, don’t complain. No verbal complaints, not even negative thoughts and written complaints.
• Determine the positive behaviours you want to adopt instead.

You can use a (color-coded) calendar to track your progress.

The goal is to foster a more positive outlook and reduce negativity in your life.

How to do it? Practical steps:

Morning Routine

You can add this to your morning routine from the previous step.

• Start each day with some positive affirmations. Examples are: “I choose to be happy and positive today” or “today is going to be a great day!”. Google some more, write them down and read them to yourself in front of the mirror with full conviction!
• Spend a few minutes writing down (journaling) things you’re grateful for. These can be the same things every day, but eventually you’ll expand and get more creative!

Mindfulness & awareness

If you catch yourself saying something negative or having negative thoughts, then you can do the following things:

• Take a pause, deep breath, and rephrase the negativity into something positive, or immediately follow it up with something positive or a solution.
• For example: “pffff the weather is sh*t today!” → “BUT nevertheless it was a great day! I accomplished a lot at work, ate amazing food and I could hug my dog!”
• Focus on gratitude. Whenever you feel like complaining, think of three things you’re grateful for in that moment. Think positive.

Tips

Here are some tips to achieve this (difficult) challenge:

• A simple but effective trick I use is: I wear a bracelet. I call it the “happiness bracelet”. This helps me remind me of this “challenge”.
• Read books about happiness, such as “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale and “The Happiness Advantage” by Shawn Achor.
• Watch motivational videos or listen to (happy) podcasts that focus on positivity and personal growth.

3. 30-Day Minimalism “Clean-up” Challenge

I’ve seen this one on “The Minimalists”.

This challenge helps you to declutter your life (and space).

In the show, they start by getting rid of 1 item the first day, 2 items in the second, 3 in the third, and so on.

Personally I find this a bit difficult, because I’m already living quite minimalistic — so I’ve reduced this to: “removing (or donating) 1 item every day.”

The goal is to simplify your surroundings and, hopefully, your mind too.

You now made space for the things that truly matter.

4. 30-Day Daily Connection & Smile Challenge

For 30 days, make an effort to connect or reconnect with someone new or someone you know.

Just say “Hi” 🙂

You could start a short conversation with a stranger, you could call to a friend, or send a thoughtful text message.

The aim is to enhance your social skills, deepen relationships, and increase your empathy — crucial aspects of personal growth.

During this challenge, be positive. This will help spread positivity and can significantly boost your mood and the mood of those around you.

Don’t forget to smile 🙂

Your smile is your most powerful asset. It spreads joy, “disarms” and makes everything better!

You can also expand this to business, for example: set a goal to meet or connect online with three new professionals in your field each week for a month.

This challenge will not only help you (re)connect with people, it will also help expand your network — which can lead to new friendships, job opportunities, freelance gigs, or business partnerships.

5. 30-Day Fitness Streak Challenge

This one is quite simple and self-explanatory.

→ Set a goal to exercise every day for at least 30 minutes for 30 days.

The activity can vary from walking or yoga to more intense workouts like running or weight training.

This challenge promotes physical health and increases your energy levels.

Oh and in case you don’t know which exercises to do, here are some tips:

• Search on YouTube “morning workout”, or “yoga”, or “quick bodyweight workout” or …. you’ll find something
• If you want to train specifically, I’ve found a nice website: https://musclewiki.com. Here you can just click the musle group you want to train or the type of workout you want and it will make some suggestions.

Tip: Add it do your daily planning or morning routine!

Thank you!

I’ll end this article here, stay tuned for part #2.

Which challenge will you be trying in the next 30 days? Let me know!

P.S. Don’t forget to expand 30 days into 60, and then into 90! It will become a habit and you’ life will change FOREVER!

If you’ve got questions or thoughts, drop them in the comments and I’ll get back to you! Follow or ???? if you’d like to see more content like this. Or buy me a coffee, this stuff is magical 😉

Did you know? I also write about different passive income streams like Print on Demand, YouTube Automation, investing tips, healthy habits and just keeping yourself motivated to keep going every day!

P.S. Don’t forget to get your Financial Improvement Tracker Worksheet here!