50 Monthly Challenges Ideas | Improve Yourself in 30 Days

How You Can Improve Yourself In 30 Days and Have Fun Meanwhile

Do you know what my biggest problem with self-improvement and habit development is?

I am inconsistent, lazy, I procrastinate a lot, and I give up way too soon.

All those are huge reasons why I fail in building a better life for myself faster. I still do it, but it’s definitely not as fast as I should.

That’s why I turned my head towards a few monthly challenges ideas and I believe that if you struggle with the same things as I do, 30-day challenges are the answers to our prayers.

One-month challenges – What are they? Why would you need them?

A 30-Day challenge is when you do one thing of your choice for 30 days in a row. You can start at any point (no need to wait for the 1st day of next month) and you want to do it for 4 full weeks without skipping a day.

Before I get on with the ideas for monthly challenges, let me tell you why I think it’s the best way to approach self-improvement.

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A monthly challenge is easy to start

One of the success-points of the monthly challenges is this: They are short! Just 30 days of experimenting and trying a new habit, hobby, or lifestyle.

When it comes to improving ourselves, it’s too easy to get discouraged by the “do it forever” style of thinking most people have.

Allow me to explain.

Self-development is a life-long process. Implementing and following many good habits is part of it, and we all know we should have healthy habits. We all want to have them. But seeing ourselves waking up at 5 a.m. every morning for the rest of our lives is what makes us snooze the alarm the next thing tomorrow morning.

When something takes too long to be done, we tend to give up on it, in most cases, before starting it.

However, if you have to do something for a short period of time, such as a week or a month, things shape differently in our minds.

We imagine doing that task just for a fraction of our lifetime. And we are fine with risking that fraction.

Hence, 30-day challenges are easy to start and follow.

Getting a taste of our new self

Let’s be honest. We try new things mainly because we are fed up with our reality, we are bored, or realized it is time for a change.

Yeah, but what if we decide to stick to a new lifestyle and then we don’t like it? Again, our minds will avoid getting us into a potential failure or disappointment. Therefore, most likely, we will give up on the new idea before starting or shortly after that.

Sticking to a habit, hobby, or lifestyle change for a month gives us enough time to test the waters and see how we feel about that new thing without taking the risk of being disappointed.

We could stick to the new thing when the month is gone or forget about it and try something new. No obligations. We love that!

What Are Some Good 30-Day Challenges That Will Improve Your Life?

Okay, now you know why a monthly challenge could be the answer to your procrastination and avoid-failure nature. But what are some challenges that you could try this month?

I created a list of 50 challenge ideas that are all perfect for testing the waters and require a minimum of effort and time from you.

But wait! There’s more!

What could be better than that?

A monthly challenge tracker of course.

I also put together a monthly tracker to record your progress and have that satisfaction of ticking off check-boxes (you know you love it). Click here to download it.

50 Monthly Challenge Ideas That Enhance Your Self-Development

1. Use stairs instead of elevators for a month.

2. Declutter one thing from your house every day.

3. Drink only water (drop all of the sugary fizzy drinks)

4. Track your habits. Get your habit tracker here.

5. Walk for 30 minutes every day.

6. Repeat affirmations every morning for a month. See 77 self-love affirmations here.

7. Plan your days from the day before. That’s a huge productivity boost as it gives you clarity on the tasks you will have to get on the next day.

8. Eat breakfast every morning. If you aren’t doing it already, now is the time to feel the benefits of healthy food early in the morning.

9. Drink only 1 cup of coffee a day. If that’s too much, try drinking 1 cup of coffee less.

10. Wake up at 5 a.m. Like I said, no need to get spooked by the idea of waking up early for the rest of your life. Try it for a month only and see the benefits. Sounds too much for a start? See the next idea:

11. Wake up half an hour earlier than usual. That should be fairly easy.

12. Read motivational literature every morning. It could be short autobiographies, inspiring stories, or just quotes that boost your mood.

13. Take Vitamin D for a month. Up to 60% of the population on Earth is highly deficient in Vitamin D. Before doing that, make sure you test your Vitamin D levels and/or consult with a doctor.

14. Text/call/see a friend every day. It’s time to do a (virtual or not) round of your friends and check up on a different one every day. Why not using the challenge tracker to write the names of the friends you will meet/text/call every day?

15. Learn one new fact every day. It’s fun. It gives you lots of topics to discuss with all the friends you’ll reach out to.

30-Day Challenges To Try in 2021

16. Meditate for 30 days. It could be for five, ten, or 20 minutes. It’s your choice.

17. No sugar for 30 days. That would be fun and hard to try but so beneficial and eye-opening. Ready to give it a go?

18. Start every day with a 10-min stretch. If you aren’t doing it already, maybe starting a monthly morning stretches challenge is a great idea.

19. Read for 15 minutes every day.

20. Do pushups every day. Don’t tell me you didn’t think of that already. Should you try it?

21. Do squats for 30 days. Try increasing the number of squats every few days. Give it a month. Then see how you feel and decide if you should keep doing it.

22. Cook at home. With the pandemic situation, you are most likely cooking more than before, but forget about ordering pizza on Friday evening for a month and stick to home-cooked meals this time. It’s money-friendly.

23. Bike to work.

24. Drink herbal teas every day. It’s not such a big of a challenge, but maybe try 30 different types of tea this month. What if you are yet to discover your favorite tea?

25. Do HIIT workouts for a month. Now, that’s a challenge. Hey, just don’t overdo it. Keep them short and sweet to avoid exhaustion and injuries.

26. Write 3 things you are grateful for every day. I have a special list of journals for gratitude for you.

27. Try a new hobby for a month. What if you’ve always wanted to try knitting, crocheting, biking, journaling, baking, or anything else? Give it a month to see if you’d love it.

28. Try journaling for happiness for a month. Here’s what a happiness journaling is.

29. Try a new self-care routine for a month.

30. Go to sleep before 11 p.m. every night for a month. Yes, including weekends.

More Self-Development Challenges For You

31. Eat healthy fats only.

32. Go meatless for month.

33. Stop smoking for 30 days. I know, easily said than done, but it’s possible and it’s just for a month.

34. Give up on a social media of your choice for a month.

35. Take 5 minutes every morning to practice deep breathing (preferably fresh air, so open the windows or go out in the garden).

36. Give a compliment to someone every day for a month.

37. Don’t drink any alcohol for a month. Pregnant women do it for even longer; it shouldn’t be that of a problem, right?

38. Tell someone you love and/or appreciate them being part of your life every day. I promise you, this will truly change your life.

39. Eat fruits for dessert. Forget the cakes and the chocolates, choose what nature gives us.

40. Count your steps for a month.

41. Use only eco friendly products for a full month. Reduce waste.

42. Track your time for a month. Track every minute and write down how much time you spend on each task you do, including watching TV, sleeping, or social media. It will improve the way you manage your time.

43. Quit adding milk to your coffee for a month.

44. Do this self-care challenge.

45. Write a short story every day. This is a great exercise for you f you dream of writing a book. Alternatively, you could do the NaNoWriMo challenge (even if it’s not November)

46. Take a photo every day – you could photograph the same object, yourself or a different photo-story every day.

47. Sketch every day for a full month.

48. Put money aside every day for 30 days. Now that’s a good saving goal.

49. Do one act of kindness every day for a month.

50. Don’t touch your phone or any other electronic after 8 p.m. for 30 days.

Conclusion on Monthly Challenges

30-Day challenges are a fun, short, and sweet way to try new things without committing to a new lifestyle for too long. You can always turn a 30-day experiment into a habit that sticks with you for life. Alternatively, you could just move on and know that it’s definitely not your thing.

Now you have more than a few challenge ideas to try for the next 30 days. Which one did you choose, and how will it help you better yourself and your life?

How You Can Improve Yourself In 30 Days and Have Fun Meanwhile

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