15/12/2014

30 Challenges for 30 Days | High Existence

30 Challenges for 30 Days

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It is been said that it takes about 30 days to form a habit. The ones that are good for
you require cultivation and determination. The starting phase is the hardest, especially
if you want to change an old habit into a new one. This is why giving yourself a
challenge for a minimum of 30 days is a great way to improve all facets of your life. Yes,
it is a gift. So, take a moment to think Who do I want to be in 5 years? What kind of
habits would you like to have? You better start now if you want your new habits to
influence your lifestyle and consequently your life! Check out this TED talk first to get
inspired:

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Sign In (/signin?redirect_to=/30-challenges-for-30-days/)
(/)

Join (/join)

Now pick one or more challenges and stick with them! Keep a log, challenge your
friends and stay inspired! Be cautioned, picking too many challenges at the same time
can easily result in a failure of all of them.

#1 Write a I-Like-This-About-You
note/text/email each day for someone
(Easy)
This is the perfect way to let someone else know you care. We are so often focused on
the bad stuff that we forget to mention the good. You surely will make peoples day, 30
days in a row!

#2 Talk to one stranger each day (Hard)

This is a great one to cure approaching anxiety (http://www.highexistence.com/how-tobecome-a-social-badass/). Have you ever resisted the temptation to talk to someone
because you were afraid and said to yourself that you actually dont want to talk to
her/him anyway? Not anymore! After 30 strangers you will understand people are just
people and theres nothing weird in speaking to someone you dont know.

#3 Take one picture each day (Hard)

This one gets harder nearing the end of the challenge because at one point you will run
out of the easy shots. This one is great to combine with other challenges, a great way to
make a photo diary!

#4 Re-evaluate one long-held belief each

day (Intermediate)
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Questioning your own beliefs is a great way to rid yourself of bullshit while continually
adapting to new knowledge youve taken on since putting old beliefs together.

#5 Take a 30 minute walk each day (Easy)

Walking is healthy, relaxing and inspiring. And it is both easy and free! A great exercise
while walking is to observe other people and think about what the differences and
similarities are between you and them. This will definitely increase your empathy and
your observing skills! A great book on this subject is Manwatching
(http://www.amazon.com/Manwatching-Field-Guide-HumanBehavior/dp/0810921847/&tag=highexis-20).

#6 Take a moment each day to practice self

compassion and self-love (Hard)
Do you love yourself? Do you beat yourself up after you make mistakes? You can test
your own level of self compassion here (http://www.self-compassion.org/test-your-selfcompassion-level.html). Chances are you dont score very high. This is because our
society sets standards that are almost impossible to achieve. And so we form a habit of
thinking we are not good enough, not worthy enough. There is also a kind of stigma on
self-love, it is often confused with either being arrogant or it being a weakness. Both are
wrong. It is a skill that can be trained so you will develop the emotional skillset to
accept parts of yourself which you might not like very much, you learn to stop fighting
against frustration and start accepting it as an integral part of life itself. Self love and
self acceptance are also crucial to loving and accepting others around you. Exercises to
increase self compassion can be found here (http://www.selfcompassion.org/exercises.doc) and check out the love yourself challenge here
(http://www.highexistence.com/discussions/topic/the-love-yourself-challenge/).

#7 Try a new recipe each day (Intermediate)

If you want to learn how to cook you need to practice, practice, practice. Forcing
yourself to try a new recipe each day is a great way to learn of more techniques and
ingredients. It also makes it easier to drop bad food habits you might have and turn
them into healthy ones!

#8 Refrain from alcohol

and other drugs for 30
days in a row! (Depends)

Trending Now

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Do you have a social circle where there hasnt been

a sober night out for years? Can you try to have fun
without ingesting chemicals to alter your doors of
perception? This is a great challenge to learn how to

25 Spectacular Movies You

(Probably) Havent Seen Pt. 3
(Http://Www.Highexistence.Com/25Spectacular-Movies-ProbablyHavent-Seen-Pt-3/)

stand up for yourself against peer pressure.

#9 Write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days

(Hard)
Ever wanted to write a book? Do it. Do it in 30 days. Check out the official site here
(http://www.nanowrimo.org/).

#10 Learn how to draw a human face in 30

days (Intermediate)
There are many how to youtube videos on drawing and if you ever wanted to learn
how to draw, stop making excuses. Set yourself a challenge and be amazed what you
can achieve in 30 days!

#11 Watch a documentary each day (Easy)

Always wanted to know everything about a certain topic? You are in luck, its the digital
era! There are more documentaries online you can possible watch in a lifetime.
YouTube, Google Video, TruthTheory.org and TopDocumentaryFilms.com are some of
the great sources. Here (http://www.highexistence.com/25-documentaries-everybodyshould-watch/) is a list of HEthens best documentaries!

#12 Read a chapter each day (Easy)

We all know we should be reading more often but somehow we are glued to the same
computer screen you are staring at right now. Clicking buttons. The solution is to take
some time each day to read one chapter. Just one. Easy right? Do it somewhere cozy or
outside. Grab a cup of coffee or tea, turn on some ambient music. Check out these
links on what books to read. Click here (http://www.highexistence.com/store) and here
(http://www.highexistence.com/a-new-paradigm-of-happiness/).

#13 Study a topic youd like to master each

day (Hard)
Always wanted to know everything about Animal Behaviour? Psychology? Physics?
Philosophy? Educate yourself without school! Pick a topic, plan at least a lecture or an
assignment each day and become a genius on your passion! Click here
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(http://www.highexistence.com/get-educated/) to find out what is possible and how to

do it.

#14 Walk/Drive/Run a new route to

work/school each day (Easy)
This is a great challenge to keep alert, discover new places, get a better understanding
of your city and to have more fun while doing one of the mundane daily tasks of life.

#15 Read a new article on HE each day

(Easy)
A great way to keep inspired, to come up with new ideas and to motivate yourself to
make the best out of life!

#16 Media-fast for 30 days (Intermediate)

Dont watch any television and stop following the news. Limit yourself to reading a
maximum of 5 blogs this whole month. Log out of Facebook, Twitter and
StumbleUpon. Stop the information overload and try living simple. Youll be amazed
how much free time you have left!

Popular Now

#17 Pick one bad habit

you already have and
ditch it for 30 days (Hard)

(Http://Www.Highexistence.Com/8Books-For-A-Higher-Existence/)

Are you a smoker? Do you like to see the negative

8 Books For A Higher Existence

(Http://Www.Highexistence.Com/8Books-For-A-Higher-Existence/)

side of things? Do you practice self-hate? Do you eat

fast food? Do you play too many video games? Quit
them for 30 days, and pick another challenge
instead!

#18 Inspire yourself each

day (Easy)
Studies have shown that people who are inspired are happier, nicer, productive and will
not stray away from their chosen path if life gets difficult. So print a quote and tape it
to the mirror. Have an inspirational video as your starting page. Use an inspirational
mantra for meditation. Get a principle to live by. In short, get your dose of inspiration
each day!
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#19 Take a cold shower each day

(Intermediate)
Cold showers are great for uplifting ones mood, cure stress related diseases, to
strengthens ones immune system and to make your skin beautiful. You can read the
reports of some HEthens that have been trying it for some time over here!
(http://www.highexistence.com/discussions/topic/cold-shower-challenge/)

#20 Think of an accomplishment youd like

to achieve for each year of the next 30
years, a year each day. (Hard)
This is great existential shock therapy. You cant answer these questions without facing
your life as it is right now and how it is likely to unfold. This one also gets harder
progressively. Its a great way to reflect!

#21 Practice a random skill everyday (Easy)

There are many available How Tos on YouTube and other video sites. Pen tricks, hand
stands, parkour, dances, cooking tricks. Broaden your arsenal!

#22 Take the stairs every chance you get

(Easy)
Somehow escalators seem ridiculous to me, and in some cases elevators too. It always
reminds me a bit of all the fat people in Wall-E. Too lazy to do anything. So take the
stairs every chance you get for 30 days. It is healthy, it doesnt look silly and it will add
up over a lifetime :)

#23 Wake up early each day (Intermediate)

It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health,
wealth, and wisdom. Aristotle

Tweet This (https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.highexistence.com%2F30-challenges-for-30-days%2F&text=It is well to be up before day

Check out how to become an early riser. (http://www.highexistence.com/how-tobecome-an-early-riser/)

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#24 Keep a journal (Intermediate)

Great for memory, reflection and especially awesome to look back to in the future and
remember the good old times when you did these challenges!

#25 Dont lie for 30 days (Hard)

This is quite the challenge. Stop deceiving yourself and others, speak from the heart.
This one goes great with cultivating right intentions, because if you master that, there
wont be any need for lying!

#26 Combine challenges (Easy)

Take a photo of yourself reading a different book at a different location. Take 10,000
steps on a new route to meet a stranger and ask for a recipe to try out. Do all
challenges, a different one each day. Wake up early to make time to meditate, practice
self compassion and yoga. Finish it off with a cold shower!

#27 Doing something that scares you every

day (Hard)
Fear is the one thing keeping you from being the best version of yourself. The only way
to overcome your fears (http://www.highexistence.com/epic-challenge-30-days-of-fear/)
is to face them head on!

#28 Dont complain for an entire day (Hard)

This one will likely take more than a few days to work up to achieving. Even if youre a
highly positive person, its difficult not to utter one negative sentence for a 24-hour
span. Dont be down on yourself if you cant make it past an hour as with everything
this takes practice! This one is also great practice for becoming conscious of your
thoughts.

#29 Meditate each day (Intermediate)

Read this (http://www.highexistence.com/the-art-of-meditation-stop-being-a-zombie/)
to learn why you should meditate, learn awesome variations on meditation here
(http://www.highexistence.com/awesome-variations-on-meditation/) and discuss this
challenge here (http://www.highexistence.com/discussions/topic/meditationchallenge/). The best moments are just after waking up and just before sleep!

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#30 Practice (at least) one completely

selfless act each day (Easy)
Go out of your way to help someone else out who may or may not deserve your
kindness. Take out your neighbors trash. Give a $5 to a homeless person. Do
something that takes real effort on your part while brightening the day of the receiver.

Would a friend benefit from this?

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by Martijn Schirp
(http://www.highexistence.com/author/martijn/)
Seguir 2017personasestnsiguiendoaMartijnSchirp.

I am the co-founder of HighExistence, a travel junkie, a meditation

practitioner and yoga lover, I am a student of philosophy, passionate
about science and immensely fascinated about consciousness.
My Website (http://www.highexistence.com/people/martijn/)
My Blog Posts (/author/martijn)

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The Most Effective Way to Create New Habits

(http://www.highexistence.com/create-new-habits-dont-break-chain-technique/)

Epic Challenge: 30 DAYS OF FEAR

(http://www.highexistence.com/epic-challenge-30-days-of-fear/)

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Becoming a Bodhisattva: 4 Vows to Take on the Road to Enlightenment Pt.1

(http://www.highexistence.com/becoming-a-bodhisattva-4-vows-to-take-on-the-road-to-enlightenment-pt-1/)

Why Single-Tasking is Surprisingly Sublime

(http://www.highexistence.com/single-tasking-is-sublime-multitasking/)

You must sign in (/signin?redirect_to=/30-challenges-for-30-days/) or join (/join) to comment!

Sofa (http://www.highexistence.com/people/sofa/) August 11, 2012 at 11:18 am

(http://www.highexistence.com/signin/?
redirect_to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.highexistence.com%2F30I am trying writing a kind note to a person and writing in my journals each day. Thank you!
challengesfor30days%2F)
1

Jake D (http://www.highexistence.com/people/zenguru42/)

http://www.highexistence.com/30-challenges-for-30-days/

August 19, 2012 at 7:41 am

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(http://www.highexistence.com/signin/?

I love this article so much! Thank you for the idea of monthly challenges.

redirect_to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.highexistence.com%2F30challengesfor30-

I actually kicked this one off in 2010 without realising it when I did the Nanowrimo challenge Ive
always planned to be a writer and a friend of mine told me to take it on; I overcame it and I loved it!
Then I read this article in October and mastered cold showers! Now I never start my day without one.

days%2F)
1

For some reason I forgot about monthly challenges until recently. This August I am in the process of an
interesting one: everyday i am writing down my thoughts on life, the Universe and everything as part of
a sustained effort to create my own philosophy and commit it to paper. This is a very tough one, but Im
going well so far, and its helped me clarify and evaluate my belief system to an amazing degree.
Planned challenges for the future: a month of no drinking, a month of vegetarianism, months where I
master skills (like chess etc)
Thanks @martijn (http://www.highexistence.com/people/martijn/) !!!

euniceradio (http://www.highexistence.com/people/evangorp/)
(http://www.highexistence.com/signin/?
redirect_to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.highexistence.com%2F30I just started this today. 30 Days Challenge:

November 15, 2012 at 9:39 am

challengesfor-

-Wake up at 6:00am (I usually wake up at 7am and rush to get readyfor work)

30-

-Cold Showers (I hear the health benefits are great)

days%2F)
-NO TELEVISION (including Netflix & movies)
-1

-Clean My Room every day (not too difficult for me, but Im much happier when uncluttered)
-Write a new song every day (I used to write music all the time. Havent had much time in recent years,
so Im excited to rejuvinate that area of my life)
-Exercise for 30mins every day (I havent worked out in 2 years. Any exercise at this point will be a
change in lifestyle)
Waking up an hour earlier allows extra time to clean my room and fill myself with inspiration for a new
song every day. I exercise after work. The cold shower this morning was horrible. I turned the knob to
the temp setting Cold As Hell. I was pretty much hyperventilating when rinsing off. It will be interesting
to see how I learn to control my body and breathing over the next 30 days. I certainly was more awake
after my brisk shower. I live in MN (28F Degrees today). When I walked outside this morning, I was
surprisingly not cold. I had been freezing all morning since my shower, and warmed up slightly with
every article of clothing I put on, so even the freezing winter air seemed mild.
Im not sure if I can keep this up for 30 days, but Im REALLY going to try.
One thing I am sure of: I am amazed with how much extra time I have without television.

tirezege (http://www.highexistence.com/people/tirezege/)
(http://www.highexistence.com/signin/?

October 20, 2012 at 3:22 pm

redirect_to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.highexistence.com%2F30Hello everybody!
challengesfor30-

Well, I think this list looks really nice. It kinda sounds like the movie, Amelie. I have a different opinion
though, I actually just signed up to share my opinion about this:)

days%2F)
-1

In my opinion, doing these stuff in the list, for 30 days, increases your chances of random death quite a
lot. By random death I mean, to die while you are sitting on a chair lets say, writing a novel would
increase that one. Or to die by falling off a stair, yeah, the stair one would increase this one :) Or to get
killed by a stranger, talking to a stranger everyday would increase this one.
Im not saying the world is a cruel place, Im not saying if you do these you will die :) Im just saying, it
increases the chances of random death. Because living by the rules of this list is not how a human lives
his/her life normally, in a normal way. It just, you dont normally do the same thing, everyday, for a
month. And you never know what happens if you do the same thing, everyday, for a month. But
you know for sure that it increases the chances of something to happen while you are doing that
thing 30 times more. And to dying is one of those somethings. What do you think? :)

deltabar74 (http://www.highexistence.com/people/deltabar74/)
(http://www.highexistence.com/signin/?
redirect_to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.highexistence.com%2F30Hi tirezege!

September 9, 2014 at 7:54 pm

challengesfor- I think your logic was spot on! Youre absolutely right! So really its up to the reader to decide if
30- the something that is 30x more likely to happen is going to positive or negative. Personally, I
days%2F)
thought everything on the list was more likely to be positive. What did you think?
1

ratzi (http://www.highexistence.com/people/sushain/)

http://www.highexistence.com/30-challenges-for-30-days/

August 6, 2014 at 7:22 am

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How about random death reading your comment ?
redirect_to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.highexistence.com%2F30challengesfor30days%2F)
1

ratzi (http://www.highexistence.com/people/sushain/)
(http://www.highexistence.com/signin/?

August 6, 2014 at 7:20 am

redirect_to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.highexistence.com%2F30How abount random death reading your comment ?

challengesfor30days%2F)
1

Leo (http://www.highexistence.com/people/leonevn/) April 17, 2014 at 2:07 am

(http://www.highexistence.com/signin/?
redirect_to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.highexistence.com%2F30I think if you do nothing helpful and live a boring life, you will absolutely die sooner than
challengespeople following this list
for30days%2F)
1

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