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Three Tips to Complete a 30 Day Challenge
Many of us embark on a new journey for the new year. Given the year we had in 2020, I think we all need something to look forward to. Some of you may have tried Dry January, where you do not drink for the first month of the year. Others might have tried Veganuary, meaning you follow a vegan diet for the month not consuming any dairy, meat, or animal products. Some of you may have tried Adriene’s 30 day yoga journey.
I started the journey with 3.1 million other yogis around the world. As the days and weeks proceeded, more and more yogis did not step back onto their mat. At the end of the challenge, I was one of only 278,000 yogis still practicing alongside Adriene.
How did I do it? How did I stick to 30 days of yoga? Three simple, practical tips helped me reach my goal. Tracking, consistency, and discipline. These three tips can be applied to any 30 day challenge.
Tracking
The first tip is tracking your progress. Each day after I finished my yoga practice, I took out a small journal that is dedicated to tracking habits. In the journal I wrote “Day # — yoga”. I would substitute the # for what actual day it was. This tracker served as my accountability partner. It was who I told, “I did it! I did the thing I set out to do!”
You can customize this tracker to fit your needs. For example, you may decide to write down how long you practiced the activity, what you ate for Veganuary, or something you are grateful for each day of not drinking. The possibilities here are endless. You can also track your progress in another form. Perhaps bullet journaling, a dry-erase board in your home, or a smartphone application. It does not matter how you do it, as long as you track it!
One final bonus of tracking your progress is you are able to go back and see how far you have come. For days you do not feel as motivated, it is a reminder that you can achieve your goal.
