Here’s Why Joining Challenges Is Good For You
The Cambridge dictionary defines a “challenge” as:
“(the situation of being faced with) something that needs great mental or physical effort in order to be done successfully and therefore tests a person’s ability.”
Or put in much plainer terms it’s simply a difficult job!
The strong-minded rise to the challenge of their goals and dreams. The weak-minded become haters.
Steve Maraboli
And that’s the problem.
When you’re faced with a difficult job, something that’s going to take an effort, physical or mental, it’s going to test your abilities on many levels.
To overcome the challenge you will need to persevere, probably over a sustained period of time. You’ll need to find the time to do the thing that needs doing, even if you already feel that your time is limited and you might need to overcome doubt and negativity from other people.
All of these combined can put you in a tailspin of resistance to the task.
Joining Challenges
But if you find yourself facing this kind of resistance, there is a way to help you get moving, get some support and possibly some structure too…and that’s by joining challenges that have set times, are organised and (hopefully) include other people.
The challenge can be hosted by someone who guides you through the process, it could be emails sent to you with a daily task, it could be an online or physical group of people doing the same thing, or it could simply be a list of numbered tasks that you download from the internet.
If you search on Google for “7 day challenges” or “30 day challenges” you’ll be blown away by the number and variety of challenge ideas that are out there, tempting you to give them a go!
Indeed, I’m often drawn into the idea of joining challenges because of what they can potentially offer me in terms of getting ahead with something I’m interested in or something that, until now, hadn’t even crossed my mind. They are also particularly useful for tasks that you tend to procrastinate over!
So what’s so good about timed challenges? Well I think there are a number of reasons!
They Give You Ideas!
I wanted to live the life, a different life. I didn’t want to go to the same place every day and see the same people and do the same job. I wanted interesting challenges.
Harrison Ford
As I’ve already mentioned, googling timed challenges will open your eyes to the multitude of possible new things you could try. If you feel like your life has become a little same-y or stale, then choosing from a list of challenges that you might not have even thought about can be exciting or scary!
But whether you think it might be exciting or scary, just seeing all the new things out there that you could try will open your eyes to possibilities that you hadn’t even considered.
Joining Challenges Will Help You Overcome Procrastination
Have you been procrastinating over something you really need or want to get done? Have you tried lots of things, but as yet, you’re still glued to the couch? Then maybe an organised challenge with a set start and end date could give you just enough incentive to get moving.
Think about your task and then go onto Google or Facebook and search [your task] plus the word “challenge”.
For example, if I put the following searches into google, I get loads of results:
• [Write a book] challenge – gets 655 million results with variations such as “write a book in a month challenge” or “write a novel challenge”.
• [Declutter] challenge – again gets millions of results. Decluttering challenges are very popular and it’s usually very easy to find a challenge to join up to or just follow along with.
These are just two examples, but whatever it is that’s causing you to procrastinate, a timed challenge can really help you get moving!
Get Specific for Better Results
Let’s assume that you’re procrastinating over a task or project that you really need to get into. By joining a challenge or challenge group, it could be just the impetus you need to break your procrastination and get to work on your task or project, such as…
A 7-day challenge to declutter.
A 7-day challenge to write a 10,000 word dissertation.
A 7-day challenge to clear your email backlog.
A 30-day challenge to prepare for a 5k race.
Imagine how you would feel if you followed the challenge and were finally able to get this task or project completed?!
They can be fun!
With some challenges there are social groups you can join which give an added element of fun and accountability.
Learning new stuff can be fun and learning new stuff with other interested people can be even more fun!
Let’s say for example that you have a few free days ahead of you with nothing in particular planned. Joining a challenge for something fun can be a great way to make that free time more enjoyable as well as useful!
Consider these ideas:
• A challenge to cook a new meal from scratch every day.
• A challenge to learn to draw or doodle by watching Youtube tutorials.
• A challenge to walk at least 10,000 steps per day.
• A challenge to read a book in a week.
• A challenge to learn the basics of a new language.
By committing to this new task, you not only fill your time, but you also get to grow as a person, have fun and learn at the same time!
Challenges Can Help You Learn
Unless you’ve already done a similar challenge in the past, then it’s likely that by undertaking a new 7- or 30-day challenge will give you an opportunity to learn something new, or, perhaps, deepen or expand your knowledge.
Challenge yourself; it’s the only path which leads to growth.
Morgan Freeman
Lots of online challenges come with a set of daily tasks, so they offer structure for the process you’re undertaking.
This can be particularly helpful if you’re new to the challenge task and need help to understand or get things moving.
Challenges Can Give You Structure
One of the reasons it can be so hard to get moving on a task or project is not knowing what needs to be done, in what order and by when! In other words, it’s all a muddle and so knowing where to start becomes an obstacle in itself.
By joining challenges, the where to start obstacle is effectively managed and removed as you’re not only given the starting point, it’ll also be followed up with a list of tasks to help you move forward in a structured way.
As you move through each task, your understanding and confidence grows and you’re safe in the knowledge that if you stick with the challenge and do the tasks, you will get it finished!
Join My Private Challengers Group!
If you think joining challenges might be fun, useful or productive for you then why not come and join my private Facebook Group – Achieve Your Best Life Challenge Group? For 2021 I’ve posted up weekly challenges for members of the group to try. There’s no pressure to join in, but for all the reasons I’ve already talked about above, you might want to give the challenges a go!
As I write this, we’re up to week 39 of 52 weeks for 2021 and have tackled things like: learning the basics of a new language challenge; finish something you’ve started challenge; a digital declutter challenge; watch a TED talk every day for a week challenge and many, many more…39 in fact with more to come!
It’s never too late to join in, so if the idea of challenges interests you, I’d love for you to join in the fun in our little Group.
I look forward to seeing you there!
What to do next…
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