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Today I want to encourage you to do a little daydreaming. While it’s true that fall is right around the corner, there are still 124 days left in 2016.
A lot can be done in a hundred days if you put your mind to it.
So, here’s what I want you to think about. If you were focused and really motivated what could you accomplish in the remaining days of this year that would not only enrich your life now but lead to continued growth in 2017?
If you really want to challenge yourself, set a goal to do something you have no idea how do and then learn how to do it. ~M. Herald
Challenges Redefine Your Limits
What I’m suggesting is that you consider creating a small but meaningful challenge for yourself. Not merely another task to add to the list, or something you think you should do, but a goal that will stretch you, poke your preconceived limits, maybe even scare you a little.
For example, you could challenge yourself to accomplish something you have absolutely no idea how to do and then learn how. Can you imagine the sense of empowerment that would give you?
Or you could challenge yourself to do something for the first time. First times can be terrifying, but also exhilarating. To a great degree, they are about courage, trust, and the willingness to be a beginner.
My good friend Nancy recently celebrated a milestone birthday by going parasailing for the first time and sent her friends a copy of the video to share her adventure.
The point is that each time you stretch yourself a little beyond what is comfortable, do something you’ve never done before, you grow a little stronger and more confident, and that redefines your limits.
Another idea would be to challenge yourself to do something you’ve been putting off. If you’ve been holding a grudge, forgive the person and free yourself from that baggage. Maybe you long to have just a little time for yourself now and then, so challenge yourself to carve out some quality “me” time and fill it with whatever activity that will contribute to your well-being.
The possibilities are endless, and the time frame (30, 60, 100 days) is up to you. I’ve listed a few more ideas below to get you started.
Small Challenges With Big Potential
- Do something you’ve been telling yourself it was too late to do. Learn to surf, skin dive, or play guitar. Take an art class or singing lessons. If it moves you, get started now. It’s never too late!
- Challenge yourself to learn at least one new thing each day: the name of a flower that grows in your garden, the capital of a foreign country, interesting facts about a period in history you are interested in, the origin of a word, or the name of a piece of classical music you hear in a bookstore.
- Ban gossip and negative talk. Whenever you catch yourself complaining about anything (or beating yourself up over some misstep) stop immediately and replace the thought with something positive.
- One of the most underrated aspects of cultivating resilience is a personal support system. Now would be a great time to begin assessing your needs and building your own list of resources. Challenge yourself to connect with someone new every day. Not everyone will make it to your list, nor should they, but you will benefit from the process of expanding your network of relationships. Just remember, a support system works both ways.
- Review your commitments and begin the work to eliminate those that no longer serve you. Keep in mind that when you free yourself from a commitment you need to be proactive about filling that gap or “life” will fill it for you. So do this purposefully with activities that will enrich your life.
- Pay it forward. There are endless opportunities to share your wisdom and caring through coaching, mentoring, volunteering, writing, speaking, and volunteering and simply through your friendship.
- Stand up to fear. It is human nature to avoid what we fear, even if it keeps us stuck and unhappy. By standing up to our fear we minimize it. So challenge yourself to identify something you’ve been avoiding and face up to it. You’ll be amazed at how liberating that feeling can be!
One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do. ~Henry Ford
- Take inventory of your personal boundaries and identify areas you’d like to strengthen. It’s pretty easy to identify where a boundary is needed; the tricky part is communicating and managing that new boundary, especially when those near and dear simply refuse to take them seriously. (If you’d like to make this the year you learn to master healthy boundaries, you won’t want to miss next week’s post or the launch of my new Mind-Body Resilience series.)
Fill your mind, body, and soul with experiences that teach and challenge you, and I guarantee it will redefine your limits, and in doing so create a ripple effect that will enrich your life for years to come.
Will you be the passenger or the driver in your life journey?
About Marquita A. Herald
Marquita is an author, resilience coach and the chief evangelist at Emotionally Resilient Living. She’s also an unapologetic workaholic who loves red wine, rock n’ roll, road trips (and car dancing!), peanut butter cookies and (especially) a dog named Lucy.
She’s saddened and frustrated by excuses and cruelty and believes authentic compassion is the most powerful force in the world.
To learn more about Marquita and the mission of Emotionally Resilient Living click “here“.
HI,
I guess I came to party a little late LOL, such a nice page and a amazing blog with lovely commentators =)
I loved your stand up to fear point btw. Made me remember the batman movie LOL, how he was so scared of bats and overcame his fears by going into a cave of like zillion bats!
Overcoming fears is hard, but one must keep on trying!!
Andy James recently posted…Let’s Take an Insight to your Personality through your Signature
Good for you Lesly, and I know that I for one am really looking forward to participating in your traffic challenge this month! Thanks so much for taking the time to contribute to the conversation. 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed the post Kathryn, but oh this is far from the first time I’ve worked with a fundraiser! In fact, I’ve chaired 3 county food drives, and that’s just one example. The only first with this one is creating the calendar. It’s actually a pretty small challenge compared to what I’m working on behind the scenes, but it seemed a good one to share. 🙂 I wish you all the best with your project to develop an advertising system and hope that you’ll consider sharing your story with us!
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us Emi – always appreciated!
Great Joyce! Please consider sharing your story with us when you complete the project. 🙂
The good news Mark, is that there are endless possibilities to challenge yourself outside of skydiving! Knowing you, I’m sure you’ll come up with something wonderful and I hope you’ll consider sharing your story with us. 🙂
Hi Marquita,
I LOVED this ” If you really want to challenge yourself, set a goal to do something you have no idea how do and then learn how to do it. ~M. Herald” I am such a believer in this. As you know, PAC starts the “Traffic Challenge” on Monday, tomorrow. It was something that members wanted to know – how to get traffic to their blogs. How could I help them I asked myself – I really knew nothing much about generating traffic, except for the basics,So I studied, looked at a lot of information and pulled something together that would be challenging, yet easy. As a result I made myself smarter and in the know.. this is the BEST way to feed your brain and help others. I plan on doing more 🙂 … love it. Such a beautiful blog .. give Lucy a hug …
Lesly T. Federici recently posted…Try This Traffic Strategy To Explode Your Blogging Presence
Hi Marquita, Such an inspirational post! I see that you are challenging yourself by working with a fundraiser for a first time. I am doing something similar. I am developing an advertising system that could be used by anyone, also charities. This is a first time thing for me and it may be more than I can accomplish, but I will never know if I don’t try. So for the rest of this year I will be working on this.
Kathryn Maclean recently posted…Solopreneur Ways to Become Visible in Business When You Are An Introverted Marketer
Hi Marquita,
“Let today be the day you give up who you’ve been for who you can become.”
Such an inspirational post! Challenge excepted 🙂
We do have to challenge ourselves if you want to get somewhere it’s not important to know how you’ll get it but is crucial to know what you want. Thank you for sharing,
Have a beautiful day!
Somedays just the challenge of figuring out all the new updates and computer changes are challenging enough. But, you reminded me of a project I had started last year and conveniently forgot about. So, in my remaining 100+ days I’ll be gearing up to finish it.
Joyce Hansen recently posted…7 ways your business brain responds to info
What a truly inspirational post M!
And what a coincidence, because I was just considering, participating in a skydive challenge!LOL!
Only because, a pint sized lady friend of mine, just participated in one, and all but referred to me as a wimp, for being hesitant to commit to doing the same!
She may actually have a point, after seeing some of her photos taking from the event. LOL!
Now I read your truly inspiring post.Let me only commit to trying to find another challenge, equally as worthy!LOL!
But I too love the idea of making the most of the remainder of the year!Thanks M!I’ll definitely be sure and share this one!
Mark recently posted…So What Potentially Profitable Lesson Can Mutual Funds Teach Small Business Owners?
Absolutely Sushmita, and I hope you’ll consider sharing your story with us! 🙂
I think that’s a wonderful philosophy Ken, but it really isn’t that different from the article’s perspective, which is that it isn’t too late to start something this year – you see? Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts – always appreciated! 🙂
Your post sparked the inner strength in me. Currently, I am working on a subject and I hope it completes before the next year commences. Fingers crossed lets hope and work for the best!
Sushmita recently posted…The new word of mouth!
I don’t think of September as signalling a kind of stretch run toward the end of the year. Instead I always think of September as a time when you start something. You think that way when you’re in school and September means a new grade or new school. I guess I never got over thinking of it as a start.
Ken Dowell recently posted…Quebec City Museums
Thank you, Marquita. My latest challenge is defining my niche – something I’ve been resisting mightily. Yet I see its purpose and it’s time!
Reba Linker recently posted…Look at the Bright Spots
Wow, sounds like some really impressive challenges you have ahead of you Beverley and I hope you’ll consider sharing a story with us about your experiences! 🙂
So glad you enjoyed the post Reba and hope that you’ll consider sharing one of your end of year challenges with us. 🙂
Actually one of the suggestions listed is about eliminating commitments that no longer serve you, so you are right on track Joy. And, good for you for speaking up!
Thanks for stopping by Suzie and I hope you’ll consider sharing with us how your projects worked out! 🙂
You are a dynamo Chery so I’m not at all surprised that you are making the most of the remaining weeks of 2016! I hope you’ll consider sharing a story with us later on. 🙂
Glad the post inspired you Phoenicia and I hope you’ll take it to the next step and pick out one of those projects to tackle!
Sounds like a great challenge Jeri and I hope you’ll consider sharing your story with us w-h-e-n you achieve your goal. 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to let me know you enjoyed the post Rosary. 🙂
That’s a wonderful challenge Sabrina and I hope you’ll consider sharing your story with us!
Congratulations on taking on the challenge to create the calendar for the amazing Operation Fetch initiative, Marquita! I just read about the beautiful love Gander and Jon share for each other and how they are sharing it with others.
For myself, my challenge for the rest of the year has me enrolled in a 7-week transformative, therapeutic art program… It is a stretch for me, as it involves committing to three full days a week. I’m excited and also a bit unsure, however, I am all in already. I am also challenging myself to explore new ways to share my health and vitality consulting with others and ways to both educate and support others to reach their health goals. Thanks for the wonderful suggestions on how to challenge ourselves to finish 2016 with a big bang!
Beverley Golden recently posted…Rediscovering Our Humanity Through Nature
I really appreciate this post, Marquita. And I like how the challenges can be big and splashy, like parasailing, or very intimate, like releasing a grudge. I am very much in this process of taking stock, and that means new actions to create new results, i.e., challenges!
Reba Linker recently posted…Look at the Bright Spots
Hi Marquita,
Very inspiring post. I almost feel ashamed to say that my challenge will be of the eliminating distractions variety, rather than taking on something extra.
However I will use your blog to announce a challenge I overcame just this morning 🙂 Yesterday I got a quote for a service and my son challenged me to get a discount.
I really didn’t think I could do it, but I stood up, paced the floor and made the phone call (instead of a cop-out email).
Lo and behold that one phone call saved me £800. How’s that for a morning’s work? I can’t tell you how proud of myself I was 🙂
So, yes it’ll make me stronger remembering that success, next time I have to do something similar.
Joy – Blogging After Dark
Love Challenge Creating ripples, I have been writing today about ripples of love and change and know i am ready to really create those ripples.
I have a book to update, some webinars to run and more time for my art……..all wll create change and ripples- thanks and welcome back xx
Suzie Cheel recently posted…3 Ways You Can Reset Your Vibes To Be Positive
I feel charged up already and I have not undertaken the challenge yet!
I had a lot to think about after reading your post. I have a number of projects to move forward in and have become a little stagnant. I know the reasons why and really need to overcome my fears.
Challenge is good and applying yourself to a completly new activity brings a little spark back into your life. It is up to us to get as much fulfillment as we can out of our lives.
Phoenicia recently posted…Is your time keeping impeccable?
Hello Marty! I love how you put this ” There are still 124 days left in 2016. and a lot can be done in a hundred days if you put your mind to it.
Well I have!
Just his past week I got out of my comfort zone and jumped into a Top Tier Opportunity!
Since then I set up my funnel with all my auto responder messages hooked to it..
And I started my marketing plan.
Oh Yeh this morning I had my first sale.. Super fired up and ready to end 2016 with a BANG!!
Chery Schmidt recently posted…Face Your Fears Head On
My most imminent challenge is to get my first magazine article published. I would like it to be in Idaho Magazine as others in my NFAA group have accomplished that. I’m going to pitch a few ideas after I get back from my Labor Day trip, so hopefully one of them will appeal to the editor. I need to immerse myself more in the writing and publishing side of things and get out of my editor box.
This is such a great post! It’s kinda like getting a head start on your bucket list. This is the perfect motivation as the end of year approaches. Thanks for sharing!
Great list of small challenges. I like that you eased into it with the small challenges list. With my organizing site, I love creating mini home organizing challenges for the month. My challenge is to learn how to create an online course.
Glad you like the idea Donna. I hope we have a good number of participants. 🙂
Go for it RoseMary, knowing you I’m sure you can come up with a good project and a story worth sharing. 🙂
What a wonderful story Erica! I truly believe so much about aging is our attitude about life and your story illustrates that beautifully.
Well said William! Thank you for sharing – always appreciated.
Good for you Jeannette! I wish you well and hope you’ll be sharing your adventure with us. 🙂
I like your list of small challenges. Each one is rewarding. I look forward to reading the stories in January.
Donna Janke recently posted…Gardens at Ferrari-Carano
Such a wonderful idea, Marquita. I’ve already jotted down five different things that I can ponder and choose which to go forward with. I love the idea of winding up the year with a good conquer under my belt.
RoseMary Griffith recently posted…Loving a London Tour – Architecture to Australians
That is such a great idea to have people submit their story of how they challenged themselves and then print some of the best stories. I don’t think of myself as a brave person. But I’ve been good in life at challenging myself to do new things that excite me. Like, I started taking figure skating lessons as an adult after having almost never ice skated as a child. Things like that can be very rewarding and a lot of fun. And the great thing about where I learned to skate as I was in a group the included multiple 70 years old women who had just always wanted to learn figure skating. One of these ladies broke her leg her first day on the ice, healed, and got right back up on her skates. She’d been skating a couple of years when I met her.
Erica recently posted…Your Gut is Where Your Health Transformation Begins
I remember going to Officer Candidate School (OCS) in the Army. They would pay attention to the smallest infraction. They often said “Pay attention to detail, and the bigger things will take care of themselves”
We often concentrate on the larger picture, and do not realize it is a mosaic, made up of smaller items. As you stated, these small changes can be a ripple. A journey is made up of small steps in a role.
Marquita — I’m trying to learn Quicken. A friend gave me a jump start but I’m putting off taking the next steps because I’m not good with numbers even though I know it will make my life better. I plan to dig in after Labor Day and just do it. If I do and there is a story to tell, I’ll let you know!
Yea! I’m not at all surprised you on board with making the most of the next 100+ days Donna! I also hear you about not sharing. I have something similar in the works that I’ve already had to postpone a couple of times so at this point I’m not taking any chances, it’s staying safely tucked behind the curtain until I’m ready to “birth” it. Hope you’ll consider sharing your story with us later!
Hi Marquita,
I am I am … knowing that this year is almost over I am challenging myself. I need to do this before 2017 and I am almost there. I really cannot share it until it happens, but I’m on the track and working out the kinks.
In order to do this I am doing exactly what you have written about with small challenges. When it came to gossip, I did lose a friend because I stood up to her and told her kindly that I don’t want to talk about x anymore….If you have something to say…say it to him not me. She hung up. That was a month ago. Not my monkey not my circus.
-LETS DO THIS!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted…Create Your Own Product To Sell Online