The Family Magazines of Michiana

I don't even know how it came up in conversation. I probably said something about wanting to exercise more, and my husband probably echoed the sentiments. I may have said something about making a game out of it and then he may have taken me up on the challenge. That conversation is how I began creating monthly challenges for myself to improve my life.

My 30-day goals were sparked by a fantastic book called, The Power of Less by Leo Babauta. In this book the author shared how he was able to accomplish so many great things in his life. I do remember thinking that his list of accomplishments seemed lofty and unachievable to me. His list contained things like running marathons and writing books – both goals that had seemed out of reach to me.  He then shared that while the things he had accomplished were amazing, that it all began with smaller goals that allowed him to then build on and up to bigger goals.

Have you ever thought about what you could achieve with a 30-day challenge? I remember how much we achieved with our family’s 30-day no-spend challenge, but what if you applied that same principle to other aspects of your life?

I decided to embrace a 30-day challenge each month and see how I could improve my life. The past three months I have challenged myself to exercise daily, to take a carload of clutter out of my home weekly for a month and a small goal to try and eat breakfast in the morning. They may sound minute things, but these goals have offered so many improvements to my life.

Want to take on a 30-day challenge of your own? Here are some simple steps to take towards reaching those goals:

Create a Focused Goal: The first step for me was making a small focused goal that could be built upon. The challenge for me was making a small goal instead of a big one. I am what is commonly referred to as an "overachiever." I think that is why I fail so miserably at New Year's resolutions and in accomplishing so many of the previous goals I have set for myself.

Make Goals That Will Enrich Your Life: For me, enrichment must happen in one of three areas of my life – myself, my family or my home life.

Enriching myself.
Examples: Exercise challenges, challenging myself to one hour of quiet time to myself, reading the Bible, writing in a journal, reading literary classics, drinking more water, eating more fruits and vegetables, watching classic movies, learning or mastering a new craft, cooking challenges, giving up television, taking courses that enrich myself and my business, traveling and learning photography.

Enriching my family.
Examples: Dating my spouse again, taking steps to improve our family finances, making alone time for each child, sitting on the floor and playing with my children each day, volunteering with my family, teaching my children a new craft or hobby, finding free things to do each day together, cooking with my children, making outdoor living a priority, limiting computer or television time, no-spend challenges, trying to bless someone else each day or starting a gratitude journal with loved ones.

Enriching my home life.
Examples: Getting rid of clutter each day, organizing the paper flow in the house, organizing problem areas in our home, cleaning out a junk drawer each day, cooking every night, starting a garden, getting my children more involved with chores, taking inventory of pantry and closet clutter, green living challenges or making the home more energy efficient.

Balancing the Goals: I then decided that to make these challenges work for me, I would add something to my life one month and take something away the next month. For example, I’m adding 20 minutes of exercise to each day of my life this month, but the next month I will reduce clutter so I have less cleaning to do for the following month. That natural give and take is what will help me fit these challenges into my day and make them work with my busy schedule.

Reward Yourself: At the end, I wanted to give myself a reward for completing the challenge. Maybe it could be a night out on the town after taking a no spend challenge or maybe it is catching up on a television series after giving up television for a month.

I guarantee that whatever small challenge you create for yourself it will create a ripple effect into other areas of your life. Leading a balanced life filled with enriching goals has made me a better mom, a better spouse and a better steward of my finances. I hope you discover the power of a 30-day goal in your family!