A New Challenge: 75 Easy

I am feeling the rebel in me being stirred up, and rejecting some of the messaging, pushing and self-improvement hype that I have taught, and subscribed to but also realize is one-sided, and does not leave room for the balance that is desperately needed in all we do.   As I navigate through my own experiences and observations of vision, goals, dreams, desires, and discontent, I know that hard work and action is essential, it is part of what we need to do to move ahead.   While we need to “push”, there are some of us that benefit from the ability to do this, and to do nothing, as in, allow things to flow.   Also, if we are always in a state of “doing”, we are not “being”.  I can’t help but think there has got to be a better balance, there has got to be more talk about rest too, about being and not about just achieving.  

I have spent much of my life setting goals and creating a plan to reach them.  I wholeheartedly believe in this and believe in hard work.  My hard work at mid-life looks very different from my hard work in my 20’s & 30’s.   Hard work back then meant Work Hard/Place Hard, and while that is well and good it is not sustainable and not always the healthy option for many.   I can’t help but think that we need to change the discussion, we need to support each other more and we need to encourage real conversations, authenticity, and daily rituals and routines that support us in living our best life or feeling better in body/mind/spirit.  

I have not personally done the 75 Hard Challenge, and to be clear, I am not against it, sometimes these challenges can be exactly what someone needs to discipline themselves, stretch or get into a better cadence of active and healthy living.  So I am not opposed to the program, I am just going to raise a flag (rather than an eyebrow) that the real challenge for most women I know is not about doing more or pushing harder (even though we all desire to eat better, feel better, feel stronger).   Permission to rest, permission to create balance, daily rituals, time to breathe and meditate, or time to heal is something we just don’t explore enough.   We cheer on the woman that raises the kids, bakes the brownies, runs the race, volunteers, and does it all….   How about we equally celebrate the women that say no, create boundaries, rest and restore and delegate and create an amazing support system because they can’t nor does she want to do it all?    

What if we were to do a 75 Easy Challenge, Easy not necessarily, some of this would be harder for many but would benefit them in profound ways.

75 Days Easy 

Must Do:

—Eat Whole Nourishing Foods (no packaged or refined sugars)

—Drink 75 ounces of water per day (hydrate your body & skin) 

—Eliminate Alcohol (not as deprivation but as a gift to your body and wellness)  

—Walk Outside 15+ minutes a Day 

—Exercise 30+ minutes a day (something you enjoy)

—Meditate 5+ minutes a day 

—Gratitude:  list 5 things you are grateful for (big or small) each day 

Morning Rituals (choose at least two)

—Reading spiritual or devotional,  At least 1 page a day 

—Journal, free writing to let things out 

—Affirmations, say positive affirmations in the mirror  

—EFT or Breathing Exercises 

—Visualization and Manifestation 

Mindful & Mindset 

—Be as present as possible (come back to the present moment) 

—Compassion:  Don’t judge self and others, just observe 

—Empathy:  Seek to understand (self and others) 

—Practice Positive Self Talk:  Affirmations and Audios 

—Lead with Love:  self love and expressions of love to others 

—Be extra Kind: kind gestures, smile at strangers, reach out 

—Forgive: forgive yourself and forgive those that have hurt you 

—Let Go: Let go of the past and stay in the present 

—Positive:  look for the good, choose the positive thoughts, words, and beliefs 

—Lift Others Up: Encourage others, offer support, cheer them on 

—Release Toxic:  try to avoid gossip, avoid negative people, and chronic complaining  

Being Vs. Doing  

Pay attention to how you are being as important as what you need to do.

—Be Present 

—Be Positive 

—Be Kind 

—Be Compassionate 

—Be Humble 

—Be Inclusive 

—Be Considerate 

—Be Loving 

—Be Accepting 

—Be Understanding 

—Be Open 

—Be Patient 

—Be Still 

—Be Vulnerable 

—Be Accountable 

So here is another way we can look at self-improvement…. In order to change or transform we need to be self-aware and balance our “doing” with how we are “being”.   This gets to the root of what we really need and helps to create change in ways we never have before.  We benefit from a whole human approach to better living, and in that our ability to shift ourselves and go deeply within is where we discover what we really want and who we really are.  

75 Days of being fully present, healthy, whole, mindful, open, and curious will create many more days that hardly seem hard.