After waking up at 6:30am for 30+ days I formed my favorite new habit. Early mornings are an amazing way to start the day.
But then I wanted MORE.
The 30-day challenge was great. But I thought, how can I do more of this AND in less time? (Sound crazy? Just wait.)
I also thought, how can I share this and provide accountability for other people too?
I LOVE self-development and doing experiments on my own. But sometimes I’m overwhelmed by all the things I want to do. (Read the business book, take an online course, learn guitar, etc.)
I found that shorter timeframes and an accountability partner — provide the perfect solution to getting things done.
So what if instead of 30-days, I did 7-day micro challenges and shared them with friends? It’s short enough to make it easy and long enough to make it effective.
Here’s what I know:
- a challenge makes it fun
- a week timeline makes it clear
- an accountability system makes it happen
And actually just the other day, I gave these suggestions to a friend on Twitter who was asking for feedback on his own 30-day goal ideas.
And as I was drafting this blog post this morning… I decided to put the micro challenge into action!
So I started with Joe. His micro challenge was to wake up at 6:30am for 7 days.
I set up a sheet to track the metrics. And also texted a few more amigos to see if they wanted in on the fun. They did.
I’ll update the sheet and this screenshot after the end of the week for extra accountability.
Recently, I’ve been asking myself, “how can I make it FUN?” This is a perfect example. And it applies to anything. Life’s short, we should spice it up more often. 🌶️
The Micro Challenge Club
I’m going to do these every week. There are countless micro challenges to be had. And there’s no harm in repeating old ones.
The most important part is setting an intention for the week. And pairing intention with accountability gets it done.
Want to join the club? DM me here YOUR commitment and stakes and I’ll add you to the sheet.
What other micro challenges are there? Here are some ideas for you. 7 days of…
- Waking up at the same time each day
- Writing for 15 minutes a day
- Physical purge (get rid of 1 item each day)
- Digital purge (unsubscribe to 1 email, delete app, etc.)
- Writing one joke a day or a gratitude list or a journal entry
- Playing an instrument for 10 minutes a day
- Learning a language for 10 minutes a day
- Exercising for 3 days of the week
- Writing a blog post, recording a podcast, etc.
There are countless to choose from. But remember, these are MICRO challenges. So start small and get the momentum going.
Holler at me with your micro challenge commitment and stakes. Today is Sunday and I’m already PUMPED for the week to come!