As a psychotherapist, I spend a fair amount of time completing paperwork that convinces insurance companies to pay for someone’s mental health treatment.
In order to help people get their services covered, I have to help patients answer questions like, “How do you hope your life will be different in 90 days?”
Asking people with a mental health problem to look that far ahead can feel like torture. People struggling with depression often can’t see 10 minutes into the future, let alone 3 months down the road.
And individuals experiencing anxiety are often consumed with the future–and they’re usually making catastrophic predictions. They might imagine themselves losing their jobs, becoming homeless, or contracting a rare disease all within the next three months.
But even if you aren’t experiencing a mental health issue, pinpointing how your life will be different 90 days in advance is tough.
Establishing a 30-day challenge can be a more effective way to create positive change. In fact, 30-day challenges (or sometimes 30-day experiments) are how I stay motivated to reach my goals–especially my fitness goals.
Most recently, I set out to see if I could get six-pack abs in 30 days. I hired Robert Brace, a fitness trainer who is known for getting people in shape fast, to help me reach my goal.
And just as he promised, over the course of one month, I saw my formerly flabby stomach morph into a muscular set of abdominal muscles. Almost every day, I could see progress, and it helped me stay on track to reach my goal.
Had I set out to do the same challenge in 90 days, I’m certain it wouldn’t have worked. Having more time would have led to fewer results. Not only do I know this from personal experience and anecdotal evidence from my therapy clients, but science also backs up this notion.
Your Brain Is Designed for 30-Day Challenges
Studies show our brains view time according to either “now deadlines” or “someday deadlines.” And “now deadlines” often fall within this calendar month.
For example, if you have a project due at the end of the month, studies show that you’re likely to start working on it earlier in the month, because your brain tells you that your deadline is looming. You’ll prioritize the project as something that is due “now.”
If however, that same project is due at the beginning of the next month, your brain will categorize it as a “later project”–even if the calendar is set to roll over to the next month within a few days
You’re more likely to procrastinate when it comes to working on the goals you categorize as “later.”
So whether you’re trying to quit smoking, or you want to lose weight, your brain will categorize a 90-day goal as something you can work on later. And if you don’t start out filled with motivation and momentum right from the beginning, you aren’t likely to pick up steam as time passes.
Why 30-Day Challenges Work So Well
Whether your goal is to pay down debt, or you want to start going to the gym, design your own 30-day challenge. In addition to your brain viewing it as a “now” goal, you’re more likely to succeed because:
- You won’t have time for excuses. When you have a short-term goal, there isn’t time to take days off because you feel tired. And you don’t have time to make up missed work later. You have be all in if you want to reach your goals.
- Fast progress builds momentum. Your hard work will begin to pay off fast. And when you begin to see results, it’s easier to stay motivated. Building momentum early can help you stay on course and finish your month-long challenge strong.
- Short-term pain feels tolerable. Working hard to reach a new goal means you’ll have to give something up. It’s easier to give up time with your family or your daily latte when you know there’s an end in sight.
Create Your Own 30-Day Challenge
There are many 30-day challenges that can improve your physical health, mental health, social life, or spiritual life.
And as we approach the beginning of a new year–where many people will be setting gigantic annual goals that they never reach–it’s a great time to launch a 30-day challenge. You might find that a short-term objective is a much more effective way to create big changes in your life.
By:
Source: I’m a Psychotherapist Who Sets 30-Day Challenges Instead of Long-Term Goals. Here’s Why
In this chapter you will be introduced to the scope of the challenge that faces you today whenever you turn to “food” as a means to quell your hunger. It sure looks like food. But is it? What are the consequences of building our bodies from the cheap foodstuffs that mimic the real thing?
Would you be surprised to learn that the total calorie count of the food you are eating is not the only thing that is making you fat? It is true. There is another component to your food that nobody is talking about which is also making you fat. If you remain ignorant of this one fat loss factor your attempts to drop body weight will always stall, no matter how hard you try. Eliminate this component from your food, and then you will be able to watch the pounds come off.
But do not worry – clean eating is not an all or nothing approach that will have you falling off the healthy eating wagon after a month. Rather, it is a sensible approach to nutrition that has as its main benefit the stabilization of your blood sugar levels. This one change can mean the difference between a life of constant health struggles, and a life that makes enjoyment of everyday activities possible again.
In short, the presence of a food label is the number one indicator that the food you are holding on your hand should probably not go into your shopping cart. This is not an absolute rule, and you will learn how to sail the murky waters of food ingredient terminology. You will know what to avoid, and why you are doing so.
I will show you how to optimize your chances for sustained success by adopting habits that virtually guarantee you never go astray for more than the period of a single meal. You will be introduced to quantitative measures of success, such as calorie counting, and see how they can be used, at least initially, to guide you. You will also learn the importance of measuring body composition in the fat loss war.
I continue to slice and dice both lunch and dinner meals for you so that you can do likewise. These two chapters cover the remaining two-thirds of our 21 day plan to restructure your meals and bring you into the healthy eating fold. You will be given a ton of ideas for recipes to use right from the pages of the book.
Finally, in the last chapter we take a quick look at the other major factor that determines how your health progresses as you age. I would be remiss if I did not at least point you in the right direction, and what I am talking about is, of course, physical exercise, and it is a key element to any successful fat loss strategy. If you are hoping that by eating healthy you will get better control over your body weight, you will do so. But to get the best results you cannot ignore the role of physical activity. I will tell you how to get those results from exercise in the shortest amount of time.