When there is a new skill that I want to develop in my life, I sometimes find that I have trouble making progress and staying motivated. I can get easily sidetracked with the many other competing priorities for my time or simply by the desire to just chill out after a long day.
However, I have been inspired by my husband who has recently had success building skills by setting personal challenges. These challenges have kept him motivated to accomplish specific goals over a set amount of time. Witnessing his progress has inspired me to set some of my own personal challenges.
Here are the four factors that I am experimenting with as I establish my personal challenges:
- A Feasible Target. Setting a goal or target that is a stretch but still possible to attain. The idea is to pick a target that is exciting and does not feel overwhelming.
- A Clear Timeframe. Identifying a clear timeframe with a specific start and end date. For example: the month of January or 15 days starting on XX date and ending on XX date.
- Day-to-Day flexibility. Adding an element of flexibility on a day-to-day basis in order to mitigate my tendency to throw in the towel if I miss a day. So, for example, instead of setting a goal such as: “meditate for 10 minutes every day,” instead the goal is: “meditate for a total of 5 hours over a 30-day period.” That works out to 10 minutes a day, however, if for some reason I do not meditate one of those days, I can spread out the 10 minutes over the remaining days. On the other hand, if I feel motivated to do more one day, that keeps me covered should I miss a day in the future. Or it means I will surpass my goal, which would be very cool.
- A Clear Purpose. Getting clear on the reason for completing the challenge. What is the motivation behind doing it and why should I see it through to the end?
By setting these four factors in place, I am hoping to create enough boundaries so that I don’t procrastinate or get wishy-washy and enough flexibility that I won’t give up partway through the challenge. I also want to be excited about the possibility of attaining (or even surpassing) the goal without feeling overwhelmed by it.
My Personal Challenges:
So, here are the two challenges that I started this week:
- Meditate for a total of 170 minutes by Dec 31
- Complete 500 pushups by Dec 31
The purpose of these two challenges is for me to cultivate both mental and physical awareness and strength. I am aiming for a balance of action and stillness. And they feel really achievable. I am not overwhelmed by the idea of meditating for an average of 10 minutes a day or doing an average of 30 push-ups a day and I will be thrilled when I accomplish it.
And of course, I had to create a spreadsheet to keep track of my progress. Here is a quick snap shot of the simple tracker I created on my phone through the Numbers app:
Now you:
What are some skills you have wanted to cultivate lately? Is there a goal you have been wanting to achieve? If you are looking for a way to stay focused and motivated, join me in experimenting with personal challenges!
Respond below to share your challenge. Or better yet, share it on Facebook or Twitter with a link to this blog to get your friends involved! Here is even draft post language for you to use: I’ve set a personal challenge to complete X amount of Y skill by Z timeframe! Help support me or join in: http://happyheart.co/post/135400592559/setting-personal-challenges
Go ahead, put it out there!