I’m 12 days into my Whole30. If you’re wondering what the heck a Whole30 is, I’ll explain a little more… it’s a 30 day nutritional reset, where you cut out a whole bunch of stuff (alcohol, sugar, grains, legumes & dairy) and just eat the good, clean stuff to give your body a break, kick any crappy habits & restore a healthy metabolism.
When I first heard about it, a little something in me lit up. No, not because I was excited to stop eating dark chocolate (who would be ?), but because I saw it as a challenge.
And here I am, almost halfway through and feeling pretty damned proud of myself for making such a big commitment.
And yesterday, in between eating bowlfuls of vegetables (haha) I realised just how effective challenges are to help you make changes & do rad stuff.
This isn’t the first big challenge I’ve done. About 3 years ago, whilst going through a really tough time, I decided to go surfing for 100 days straight. I remember making the decision back then, and it was similar to the one I just made for the Whole 30… The idea popped into my head, I thought about it for an hour or so, and then committed to starting the very next day.
Going surfing for 100 days in a row sounds like a pretty fun challenge though right? Like it wouldn’t really be that hard. And, to some extent, that would be true. I was living in Australia at the time, and close to the ocean, so, all in all, it shouldn’t have been too tricky.
However.. at the time I was going through some pretty full on stuff, emotionally. I was a zillion miles from home, and seriously struggling. I knew that surfing every day could only have a positive impact on my life and so saying yes to it felt pretty simple.
But the reality was a lot tougher than I imagined. There were days when the waves were huge & stormy (and everyone else was just watching from the safety of their cars), there were days when the waves were so small I had to drive around half the day looking for something, anything, that I could ride, there were shark alerts and injuries. And if I’m super honest, there were days when the stuff I was going through was threatening to pull me under (I think I teetered on the edge of depression for a while there — and it was a scary place to be), so the idea of hopping out of bed and going for a surf felt like an almighty mission.
But I did it.
Because I’d set myself the challenge.
I wonder now if I’d just said to myself ‘I’m going to commit to surfing more’ whether it would have had the same impact. Or if 12 days ago I had said ‘I’m going to try and cut out the not-so-great stuff out of my diet’, whether I would have really made the changes I’ve been making.
For me, at least, I know that wouldn’t have happened. Because here’s the thing: Creating a challenge, a strict, tangible quest, gives a certain amount of structure that makes it waaaaay easier for you to stick to your guns. Plus, a big part of taking on some kind of challenge is the fact that you’ll likely share what you’re doing with others, which, in itself, creates a huge amount of accountability.
And here’s an unexpected bonus: You’ll enjoy the ride.
So what does this have to do with business? Well, challenges, quests & the pursuit of a goal play an integral role in the life of any entrepreneur. So perhaps, instead of those things just showing up for us unexpectedly, we could jump in the driver's seat and actually plan a few of our own.
I tried it out at the end of last year. I’d been thinking (haha more like procrastinating) about writing an ebook on location independence. It had been on my list for months. So I decided to shift it from a someday project into a finished-in-a-month project.
I mapped all the content out (always super important to break up any challenge into small, achievable actions) and gave myself 30 days to finish it. I told a few of my friends, and my mastermind buddies so I knew I had some accountability, and I committed to writing every single day.
And guess what? Within a month, I’d written 22,000 words and I had a finished product ready to sell.
I guess what I’m inviting you to do, is to turn something that you really want to do a specific, tangible challenge. For me, a combination of perfectionism & procrastination creates a massive backlog of ideas & projects that just seem never to get out of my head and into reality.
So what will it be? 100 days to launch your next offering? A month of meditation to plug you back into your flow?
I dare you. Pick something. And start today.