30-Day Habit Challenge

The 30-Day Habit Challenge

Reprogram your day-to-day activities to set you up for success!

If you are looking for a way to change your life and get better results, then a 30-day Habit Challenge could be just the thing you have been looking for.

According to research by Phillippa Lally, it takes an average of 66 days to form new habits. However, her research also showed that some habits could be reprogrammed as quickly as 18 days, whereas others took up to 254 days until they finally took hold.

Even though the idea of changing habits might seem inconsequential, the impact these changes can have over the long-term is significant.

If you reduced your calorie intake by just 100 calories per day, you would lose almost 5kg of body fat over the course of a year.
If you wrote just 1000 words per day, you would have enough content for 4 or 5 books by the end of the year.
If you made just 5 sales calls per day, you would make 1250 new contacts in 12 months of your business.

We often underestimate the cumulative impact of small changes, so if you are looking to make a big shift in your life, you should start by looking at your habits and challenge yourself to see what changes you can make.

We know how easy it can be to pick up bad habits, so let’s actively try and reprogram our psychology for the better by taking on a brand new habit and sticking with it for 30 days.

Yes, even though we keep hearing how you can teach old dogs new tricks, our nervous system can be changed, and we continue to learn new ways to take advantage of the neuroplasticity of our brain.

Ok, it might not be easy at first. If it was easy to pick up new, positive habits we would all be living our dream lives with our dream bodies and our dream bank accounts already.

But that is why something as simple as the 30-day Habit Challenge can be so useful in starting the momentum towards a new and improved version of you.

The Rules

1. Choose One Habit

Yes, it might be tempting to change all of those elements of your life that you aren’t so happy with. The problem is, if we take on too much at the start, we tend to get overwhelmed, and then never complete the process of making those habits stick. So, just pick one habit to begin with. You can always do another 30-day challenge immediately after this one is locked in.

2. Make it SMART

SMART is a goal setting acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. Make sure you are using Specific and Measurable for your habits. For example, “make more calls” isn’t as good as “make 5 calls every day to new prospects”. Find a way to write your habit in a way you can check it off once it is completed.

3. Start Small To Begin With

Habits are more about routine than about intensity, so start with small increments. If you commit to 15 minutes of practice per day rather than aiming for 3 hour blocks, you will be more likely to succeed with the program. Once the habit is starting to feel part of your life, you can then extend the time and intensity levels to meet the needs of your goals.

4. Plan For Obstacles

Just because you are on a mission, doesn’t mean the world is going to play fair. What will you do if you miss your alarm, or have to work late, or the kids are sick? You can’t plan for all eventualities, but if you know how you will adapt and still manage to complete your habit actions on the challenging days, you will be far more likey to complete the 30-day habit challenge.

5. Track Your Progress

People love seeing themselves on a streak. Did you know that, on Duolingo, the language app, the longest streak is over 4000 days (that is more than 10 years) and the app sends you reminders if you are going to break your streak. Put a visual tracker on your fridge, phone or wherever you will see it, and get excited as you see your new habit streak growing.

6. Reward Success

We are simple creatures, and the idea of a reward will help keep us going if we lose a little motivation. Give yourself a little reward at the end of each week, and a bigger reward when you finish the full 30 days. Pick something relevant to your challenge. Fitness people, treat yourself to a new supplement. Business people, get that gadget you’ve been eyeballing. Creating new habits is about delaying gratification, so make sure there is some gratification waiting for you at the end of the process.

Examples of 30-Day Habit Challenges

Ok, so ready to get started with some new habits but looking for some inspiration on where to start? Check out these different ideas for habits you could start to incorporate into your daily routine.

Business/Career Habits: read industry publications/articles, get a new certification, boost your social expertise and profile, build your professional network.
Fitness Habits: 15000 steps per day, standing desk, cut out sugar or alcohol, 100 press ups per day, walk or ride to work, no snacks after 7pm.
Productivity Habits: Wake up early (5am?), block out time in your calendar for priority projects, track metrics to get the Hawthorne Effect,
Wellness Habits: morning meditations, start a smoking cessation plan, make a gratitude list, write a journal, drink more water.
Financial Habits: Save $5 per day and put it into a savings account, make your lunch at home, reduce your electricity usage, sell unwanted items online.

Hopefully these gave you some ideas as to what you could start doing to build new habits. But, if you are reading this article, you probably already know which habits you need to be starting, right?!

Tip For Success

Ok, so it seems simple to get going with your 30-day habit challenge, right?

Well, getting started is often the easy part, and we all know people who have started something new, or tried to quit something, only for them to go back to their old behaviours pretty quickly (probably less than 30 days, right?).

The tough part is sticking through the full 30-day process.

Below are a few tips to help you get through to the end of the habit challenge and make the 30 days feel more enjoyable along the way.

Accountability Partner: Find a friend, family member or get a coach who will help you follow through on your promises and commitments.
Change Your Environment: Declutter your work space, clean out the kitchen cupboards, or rearrange your furniture to make it easier to succeed.
Habit Tracker: Create a visual representation of your progress or use a habit tracking app like HabitNow (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.habitnow&pcampaignid=web_share) if you prefer a digital tracker on your phone.
Venn Diagram: Find a way to overlap your new habits with existing behaviours. Listen to audiobooks as you walk or workout. Get a treadmill desk so you can walk and work. Get creative with how you can incorporate habits without needing to find more time.
Reward Yourself: As mentioned before, dangle a carrot at the end of the 30 days to keep you motivated.

Are You Ready To Take On The 30-Day Habit Challenge?

Now it is time to decide on your own 30-day habit challenge and see if you are up to the test. You have been thinking about this long enough, and today is the day when you will finally drop the excuses and take action.

Remember, even the smallest of actions will have a huge effect on your life over time, so get started today and start building those new habits into your daily routine.

If you want to share your habit challenges or results with other readers, please leave a comment below and let us know what impact the 30-day habit challenge made for you.