Happy New Year 2024! I hope it has started off in a good way.
As I wrote in my last post, I’ve been taking part in a new year’s challenge that I adapted from the 75 Hard challenge… I’m calling it 75 Strong. There is no need for it to be hard, the way the challenge was designed to be hard.
To recap, my challenge for the first 75 days of 2024 is:
1. Follow any diet or nutrition plan of my choice (I do intermittent fasting), and no alcohol.
2. Exercise 6 days per week with 1 day per week for active rest.
3. Drink 1 gallon of water daily, or as close to it as makes sense.
4. Dedicate one hour of personal development-focused “me” time every day, like with a book, or a podcast.
5. Do a daily check-in with myself, jot down my thoughts, feelings, emotions that day, whatever comes to mind.
I was telling a friend about this challenge recently, and she remarked that it seemed a little strict. But I have already been doing a few of these things for a while now… what I haven’t done is track my experience through it. For me, numbers 4 and 5 have been hands-down the most challenging (and enlightening) part of the first week.
THe Real Challenge: Pay Attention
During this challenge I am keeping a journal with notes on how long I slept the night before, the quality of my sleep, the workout I did that day, the food I ate, the window of time in which I ate it, how many 900ml jugs of water I drank, what I did for self care/love/development that day, and a few brief notes on where my head and heart were at.
What’s surprising to me is how often I have to remind myself to sit down for 5 minutes and get my day’s notes started, or check in with how much water I have had. “Is it 3 jugs now, or just 2?” Why is it so hard to remember?
I think it might be because I don’t commit it to memory; I don’t find it intrinsically important to my day. I like drinking water, and keeping my glass full throughout the day, but I am not usually consciously giving my body the specific amount of water, and attention to the water, that I am for this exercise, and it’s kind of interesting how much attention there is to be paid, into almost anything… how giving your body this attention in this life-giving way is itself a specific act of love if you let it be.
Do Something Nice For Yourself Today
Speaking of acts of love, I caught myself thinking the other day “oh I still need to do something nice for myself today,” which I thought was kind of funny but also a sign that a journal that keeps you accountable, at least at the beginning, is so great. It can be a wonderful tool.
If you’re interested in trying a challenge like this but the idea of committing to all these things is too much, I’d offer that you could learn a lot about yourself and how you move through the world by simply keeping a daily journal of the 5 things above, and what you do about each of them in any given day.
How do you move your body? Do you do it every day?
What diet do you follow? What is the intention behind the fuel you give your body?
Are you drinking enough water? How do you know?
When was the last time you took an hour for yourself?
How’s your mind? Your heart? Are they on the same page or do they feel different?
There is so much you can learn about yourself when you gently and quietly document your experience throughout the day. I’m interested to see what the next several weeks bring.
Peace and love to you, wherever this message finds you.
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