30 Days to a Better You
What if you could take steps to improve your life in 30 days? That’s what I’m offering you. If you’re looking for ways to make positive changes, here are 5 Self-Improvement Challenges to get you started.
Do you want to be a better version of yourself? Who doesn’t, right? The thing about personal growth is that it’s just that… personal. The areas for improvement will differ for each individual.
As for the challenge? That’s within yourself. Can you commit to yourself in order to realize that life that you want? It’s easy to find the reasons or excuses to focus elsewhere. So, the challenge here is to give yourself the time you deserve.
Growth can happen in the way you think and how you behave. It may involve education, parenting and professional reasons as well.
This post will provide options for improved well-being. These ideas can help you with positive emotional, mental and physical changes.
Why 30 Days of Self-Improvement Challenges?
Why not? 30 days is a sweet spot for people just starting out.
It’s short enough to feel like it’s attainable, yet long enough to begin to experience the effects. Committing to something for a quick, little month seems simple and easy. A month goes by like that!
However, putting the work in each day will soon add up. What may be difficult in the beginning will become easier with time.
In fact, you may come to crave the structure and routine in your life. What better habit than one that serves to make your life better?
Give yourself 30 days to create new habits to benefit your well-being for days and months to come. Once you reach that milestone, try for another 30 and so on and so on.
However, don’t be bound by “30 days.” It’s simply as a place to start. If another number works for you, do that. Just commit.
But, really, just take it one day at a time.
30 Days of Journaling
It’s hard for busy people to find time for themselves. But, it’s important to check-in with yourself to make sure that you’re doing well.
Journaling is a great way to have a conversation with yourself. It’s a time for quiet self-reflection. Through journaling, you can manage and understand your thoughts, feelings and aspirations.
Write down your goals and fears. Manifest the life you want for yourself. Use prompts and affirmations for a more guided journaling experience.
With time, you may discover patterns in your thinking and how you approach or even avoid certain situations. Self-awareness will allow you to consciously move through life with intention and purpose.
Journaling Benefits
Journaling is a recommended practice for stressed out moms and anyone looking for a way to relax. The positive effects of journaling benefit the individual and the parent.
Journaling Provides:
- Reduced stress and anxiety
- Outlet for frustrations and disappointments
- A private place to express your thoughts, hopes and fears
- Clarity and perspective
- Improved memory
- Self-awareness
- Habit tracker
30 Days of Meditation
Life is full of noise and chaos. Between internal and external stimulus, it’s all around us. Continuous over-stimulation can cause anxiety.
It’s helpful to your mind and body to enjoy some peace in your day. Just a few quiet minutes to center yourself. But that can be hard to come by.
Don’t wait for that peace to happen naturally. It’s unlikely to. Take it into your own hands and create your own little bubble of quiet.
Find a place that makes you feel calm or at the very least where outside stimulation is minimized. Surround yourself in silence or with the sounds of nature.
Sit in a comfortable position, and breathe. Focus. Breathe with control and intention, knowing that you’re taking care of yourself.
Meditation Benefits
As noted by the Mayo Clinic, the benefits for meditating are emotional and physical. Managing stress helps with recovery and prevention of parental burnout.
There are so many ways to meditate (relaxation, mindfulness, manifestation, sleep, positivity, etc.). Find one that works for you.
Meditation Provides:
- Improved focus
- Calming and relaxation
- Self-awareness
- Clarity
- Manage stress and anxiety
- Improved heart rate
- Lower blood pressure
- Improved patience
- Better sleep
30 Days of Yoga
If you aren’t familiar with yoga, it may sound difficult or perhaps something that hippies do. I’m here to tell you that yoga is mainstream.
There are many variations of yoga, good for different needs. different disciplines find one that works for you.
Personally, I like Yoga with Adriene. Her programs are easy to follow, while still challenging you and allowing growth. If you’re in it for 30 days, she has several different options for you to follow that will keep you on track.
Benefits of Yoga
As with many of the options shared in this post, yoga benefits physical and mental health. The balance gained through the practice of yoga can provide balance in other areas of your life as well.
Yoga Provides:
- Stress Relief
- Focus
- Flexibility
- Better balance
- Lower Blood Pressure
- Improved muscle tone
- Mindfulness
- Self-awareness
- Better sleep
30 Days of Walking
When it comes to exercise, walking is one of the easiest and most affordable. All you need to get started is a pair of tennis shoes and a destination.
You can walk anytime you want to. Take a quick stroll through the neighborhood or through the park. You can even walk on a treadmill indoors if you prefer.
Make taking a walk a part of your day. Start off with a sunrise walk or take a walk around the building during your lunch break. Even better, make it a family affair with an after dinner walk.
Where and when you walk isn’t important. As you may have heard before, it’s about the journey, not the destination.
Benefits of Walking
- Heart health
- Help with depression
- Mood booster
- Improved sleep
- Easy on the knees
- Muscle tone
- Endurance
- Lower body fat
- Increased longevity
30 Days of Gratitude
It’s easier to dwell on what you don’t have, rather than what you do have? We all do it. I think it comes from a place of insecurity in our lives in one way or another.
Sometimes a change in perspective is needed. You may need to look within to determine why you see things the way you do.
Why dwell on the negative? It can obstruct the view of what’s good in your life. Take a minute or two each day to reflect, on what really matters.
Who is in your life? Are you healthy? Are your kids happy?
Express gratitude verbally with the people in your life. Write it down in a journal. Make gratitude part of your inner voice.
There are so many paths toward gratefulness, you just have to recognize them. Once you do, you may find that you are more blessed than you may realize.
Gratitude Benefits
Spend some time focusing on what you are grateful for. Be open and receptive to what’s good in your life. Focus on the good and the bad will slowly fade away.
Lead with joy and intention.
Being Grateful Provides:
- Self-confidence
- Life acceptance and happiness
- Appreciation
- Self-awareness
- Clarity
- Stronger friendships and romantic relationship
- Don’t take things for granted
- Reduced stress
Concluding Self-Improvement Challenges
Now that you have a place to start your self-improvement journey, do so with intention. Really go for it and make the commitment.
These self-improvement challenges give you tangible, practical ways to move toward your goals.
People are influenced and inspired by the world around them. Some growth is natural, based on life experiences and situations. Some is intentional, in the classes we take, the books we read.
Remember that you are a beautiful work in progress. You are here to learn and grow into the best version of yourself possible.
What areas of your life do you want to improve? You might have a list of things. If so, don’t be overwhelmed, just start with one thing.
Each day welcomes a new opportunity to improve on the day before.
Have you ever taken on a 30 day challenge? Tell me all about it in the comments below.
