Here we are again, the cusp of a new year. Now is the time that people reflect on their past 12 months, and look forward to how they want to improve themselves for the year to come… well, typically. Almost every talk, speech, presentation, email, or catch-up text message has referenced some form of, “oh what a year this has been,” and I’ve had enough. A change in the calendar number isn’t actually going to push reset on any of the difficulties the world has experienced in 2020. What we can do – is continue to learn, to be kinder, and to strive to be better.
This is the theory behind my annual monthly challenges. I’ve done these for a few years now, with varied success. They say most people fail to achieve their New Year’s resolution, maybe even 80%. Perhaps it’s the fault of under-defined goals (ex. “I want to start working out.” → what does ‘working out’ mean? How often? What kind of workout? What is success to you for this?), or simply because it’s hard to stick to something for an entire year every single day. So for the past few years, instead of choosing a few vaguely defined goals to strive for in the upcoming year, I choose 12, month-long challenges. Sticking to something for 30 days is more clear-cut, easier to wrap your head around (there is a defined finish line!), and achievable.
Here is my list of monthly challenges for 2021. Grab an accountability buddy (and if you don’t have one, message me and I can be yours), define your own list (follow mine, or scroll way down for a big list that i’ve compiled), and then publicly announce what you’re doing so that you have to stick to it or risk falling into social oblivion.
One personal note: I have spent the majority of quarantine looking out the window from my desk, observing the habits of members of a small, quiet neighborhood where the average age is 65+. Every day, without fail, two individuals catch my eye. One, is a gentleman in a wheelchair who flies around the entire neighborhood twice each day. Regardless of the weather, the news, the barriers, I see him swing down and around my cul de sac and back up again with determination. The other, is another older gentleman with the most perfectly groomed white dog, who trots around the neighborhood up and down the lanes, once a day. I get such joy from seeing them pass around my corner on their daily walk. As the weather has gotten colder, I noticed that the pup adored a new red holiday sweater. Something about routine and habit seems so central to humanity – and I believe that practicing better habits can lead to better days.
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January – Vegetarian
I like to rotate health / fitness / skill / happiness challenges on these lists. Every year, I include some kind of diet one. January is a great month to place your harder challenges. You can adjust this one to the right level for you: pescatarian, whole 30, meat only x times per week (or even just meatless Mondays), vegan, etc.
February – 3 minute handstand per day
Feel free to replace this one with the fitness-challenge of your choice. 100 pushups a day, walk for 10 minutes a day – whatever works for you. This one is because I genuinely am frustrated by how my handstand progress has stalled. I usually break up fitness challenges throughout the day to make them more manageable.
March – No added sugar
I include this challenge every year, because it is THE BEST. Placing it earlier in the year is better too, because it sets up this habit for the following months. Sugar is in everything, and it is naturally occurring. The kind of sugar I’m referring to is the added, unnecessary sugar that is deceivingly abundant. If you’re new to this, this month is going to be a lot of looking at nutrition labels, checking the ingredients, and groaning as you have to go look for something else without sugar in it. This might suck the first week, but once you get over that hump, you might start to notice a change in your palette, a change in your cravings, and a lot, lot more.
April – A poem a day
Since releasing my small poetry project ‘Intrigue,’ I have gotten the urge to publish a larger, fuller collection of writings. April is national poetry writing month, so there is no better month to place this challenge. Poetry is an incredible canvas because it can be whatever you want: as short as you want, as long as you want, as melodic or as stoic as you want. I’ll be sharing these poems on my instagram, and you’ll likely see some of them in my next publication.
May – Track my spending every day
Financial challenges are also a great category. Adjust as you need for challenges that fit your bank account (ex. if you really need to save, try a no-spending month, etc.). For me, it’s about recognizing the random little spends that I don’t account for when I think back on my bill. This month, I’ll write down how much I spend, and on what, every day at the month. I’ll do a little breakdown at the end and see what areas I can be more thoughtful in. Don’t forget to include your subscription costs that you don’t even realize you’re getting charged anymore.
June – Gallon of water a day
Apparently, everyone is dehydrated. I try my best to drink a lot of water, but we can certainly drink more. The last time I did this challenge, I was surprised to notice how little I drink throughout the day. The most effective way I’ve found to do this is to determine how many liters your water bottle holds, figure out how many full water bottles you need to drink throughout the day to reach at least a gallon, then set reminder timers on your phone so the liquid intake is consistent and spread-out.
July – Morning meditation
You’ve heard it before: ways to reduce stress, meditate, meditate, meditate. Nowadays meditation seems like the cure-all for everything. Despite my skepticism, I do recognize the benefit in practicing quiet brain-time. My practice will be in the morning, before the day’s chaos distracts me, and begins short – adding minutes as I maintain consistency.
August – Kanji
This challenge was on my last list, and I failed terribly. I didn’t do it at all – which is very frustrating since it is a very simple challenge and aligns well with my goals. It’s back on my list this year so that I can redeem myself. If you’re looking for a replacement for this one, its a skill-based challenge, so choose something like spending 10 minutes a day learning a new language, learning a new song on the piano, learning the piano, etc..
September – Stretch every day
Another fitness one! Stretching ALWAYS makes me feel better, and you can do it while multitasking a lot of different things. Podcast? Stretch. Netflix, and stretch! Yoga counts as stretching too.
October – Top 3 priorities
Every morning, list the 3 activities that, if you complete them that day, you’ll feel satisfied and productive at the end of it. Warning here: make sure the activities are something you can complete within THE DAY. If you’re writing a novel, don’t say, “finish the novel.” Make it more specific and attainable like, “decide on the storyline of next chapter.” I often include simple life things like, “pay credit card bill,” which is more effective than you would think. Oh also, do the activities that you list in the morning 🙂
November – Listen to a new artist every day
I’ve been getting really into music, but it’s easy to fall into the trap of listening to the same artists over and over again. Try, every day, to find an artist that you’ve never ever heard of before. Spend part of the day listening to their stuff. If you need help finding new artists, reach out to your network – I’ve gotten some great intros through social media.
December – Happiness project
This is a new one, and hopefully is going to be a feel-good one to end the year on. On the first of the month, make a list of 30 things that make you happy. These are actions / activities. So if your dog makes you happy, a bullet on the list would be something like, “pet dog.” Try to be specific with the things on this list. Then, every day, do at least one of the things on the list. You definitely don’t need to ‘complete,’ the whole list. You could choose the same activity every day if that’s what you want to do.
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That’s my list for this year. While brainstorming, I’ve listed a lot more, so here they are. Check these out if you need ideas for building your own list:
World News Summary
Video Clip a Day
100 pushups a day
Write every day
Whole 30
Gallon of water a day
No alcohol no drugs
Learn something new every day
Project – month long
Yes man
x am wake up every day
Get rid of one thing a day
Spend no money
Photo a day
Draw something every day
No lying
Blog post a day
Chance and luck – let dice or coin flip determine your choices for the month
Talk to a new person every day
Question a day
Read a Chapter a day
Create a short film
Write a letter to someone a day
Learn something new every day
x hours of sleep a day
3 daily joys
Write a novel
Entrepreneurial brainstorm project
Track your spending
Write your dreams down
Top 3 priorities a day
Schedule your day every day
Link to past monthly challenge posts:
https://www.maikaisogawa.com/2020-monthly-challenges/
https://www.maikaisogawa.com/monthly-challenges-2018/
https://www.maikaisogawa.com/a-look-forward-12-months-of-challenge-and-grind/