I really like 30 day challenges, and I think they’re among the most valuable tools to achieving success. As a personal trainer, I encourage customers to take my 30 day nutritional challenge. In a nut shell this challenge removes crappy processed foods and the emphasis is on high quality nutrient dense foods.
Challenge
Every single one of my customers who has obtained this 30 day challenge has lost a substantial amount of weight, in actuality, it’s been so successful that I have actually put a guarantee on it’Lose 7 pounds of fat in 30 days or 100% of your money back no questions asked’. To this day I have not had to provide a single penny back. So what’s it about a 30 day challenge which works so well? Commitment – The act of devotion to a challenge and establishing measurable goals is sufficient to make a massive change and succeed.
30 days is a short enough time that you don’t feel overwhelmed by the task in hand. Habit – 30 days can be a long time to make good habits on your own. By doing something daily for 30 days, you’re reprogramming your brain to produce the habit. Consider it this way, when you’re learning to drive a car you had to consider each and every action you had to execute. Check the mirror, brake, left foot down on the clutch, change equipment, bring up the clutch, gently accelerate and finally check the mirror.
Now if you are driving for a little while you will know that it’s just become a habit, you do not need to consider any of the activities anymore since they simply come to you naturally. I remember when I gave up bread for 30 days, it was tough. For the first two or three weeks I could think about were sandwiches but each day I consciously made the choice to not consume the stuff. After 30 days I was not even considering bread and to this day I do not crave bread.
Conclusion
Choose a goal that’s not overly hard – Be realistic with yourself, what is really achievable. If you would like to shed weight and you commit to exercising daily for 90 minutes then that is not going to work. You’ll get tired, achy and not to mention exhausted! A better goal is to do 20 minutes each day, it’s a lot more realistic. Make sure that it is measurable – You will find it much easier if you can create a goal that’s measurable. Take this opportunity to think of a place in your life that you want to enhance and set a 30 day target. Good luck and happy habit making.