Do you want to make healthy, productive changes in life? Not sure where to start? Perhaps a 30 day challenge is the perfect option for you.
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If you’re anything like me, you have a lot of self-improvement ideas in mind. Working out more, eating healthier, getting organized, making more money. But how do you tackle any of these successfully? Enter the 30 day challenge.
When I try to make changes, it can get overwhelming to try to do everything at once. Getting healthier could mean eating a new diet, drinking lots of water and working out at the gym every day. So instead of tackling all of these at the same time, I can choose one focus area and challenge myself for the next 30 days.
A monthly challenge can make improving your life more fun and rewarding, while also making it easier to tackle. Imagine the difference you may see if you focus on one thing daily for the next 30 days. Could you improve your health? Is there potential for increased income with your blog or business? Will you make more time for your creative side? It’s all possible with a 30 days challenge.
What is a 30 day challenge?
A 30 day challenge simply takes an area you want to improve and encourages you to work on it daily for 30 days. For instance, if you want to start being more physically active, you may choose to start a workout challenge. This could be as simple as walking 5,000 steps each day or stretching every day.
Challenges can work in many different ways. You can do the same thing every day in order to make it a habit (walking 5,000 steps). Or you can choose to build each day to gain strength or momentum (walking on day 1 to running 3 miles on day 30).
Creating new habits or working toward a goal might seem overwhelming or intimidating, but it can be made easier when broken down into simple daily tasks.
30 Day Challenge Ideas
Here are some examples of challenges to try for 30 days in different categories, including personal growth, healthy eating, fitness, mental health and wellbeing, relationships, wealth, productivity, and blogging.
Personal growth challenge ideas
- Take an online course
One of the biggest ways to improve an area of your life is to take a course. This could be in any area – you can learn a new aspect of your profession, absorb a piece of history or improve a skill. The possibilities are endless! Don’t forget there are both paid and free courses available across the internet. Depending on the length of the course, divide the lessons into 30 days. Also, don’t forget to put the lessons into action.
- Read every day
If you read 20 or more pages a day, you could read up to two average-length books in thirty days. This challenge could work in many different ways – choose a page amount, set a timer for a number of minutes or base your efforts on the number of chapters.
- Write every day
If you’re a writer or want to improve your writing, try to write every day for 30 days. You can look up prompts to get your juices flowing or commit to writing so many words each day if you’re working on a specific project.
- Drawing or painting challenge
For artists, try committing to dip into your creative pool every day. Take out the sketch pad or easel and work on your art every day.
- Photography challenge
If you enjoy photography and want to improve or you just want to enjoy the world around you, try a photography challenge. Write down one object or person you want to photograph every day. Examples could be a beautiful flower, a person you love, a bird in flight or your favorite moment of the day.
- Learn a new language
You may not be fluent after a month, but learning a new language does take daily practice. I’ve been using the app, Duolingo, which actually makes learning fun. It also encourages you to log in daily and rewards you for your work. I’ve been using the app for a while now and have reached the 365+ day milestone.
- Kindness challenge
Acts of kindness – to yourself and/or to others – could be a great challenge for self-improvement. It doesn’t need to cost anything to be kind – say hello to a stranger, send a card to a friend or hold the door for someone at the grocery store.
- Journaling challenge
Spending time each day writing in a journal can help you process what’s working and what needs improvement in your life. You can commit to writing freestyle each day or use journaling prompts to inspire you.
- Daily affirmations
Affirmations are short positive statements to help improve self-esteem. Creating daily affirmations helps ground ourselves in positive thinking for the day. Try fostering daily affirmations each day for the next 30 days.
- Sign up for a continuing education class
As adults, it’s important to keep learning and socializing. Taking a continuing education class can help you accomplish both. Check out your local community college to see if they offer any classes that meet your needs. Learn a new skill while meeting new people!
30 day challenge ideas for eating healthier
- Eat fruits/veggies every day
We all know that fruits and veggies are good for us. Aim to add more to your daily intake.
- Go meatless
Have you wanted to try a vegetarian lifestyle? Or just want to cut back on your meat intake? Try going meatless for one month and see how it goes.
- Try a new healthy eating pattern
Similar to going meatless, is there a dietary lifestyle that is healthier than your current eating habits? For me, I would like to incorporate the Mediterranean diet into my life.
- Meal plan
One of the biggest hurdles to healthy eating seems to be knowing what to make for meals. When I take the time to write out our meal plan, it not only takes off the burden of what to make, but it also helps us have a more focused grocery list.
- Meal prep
Similar to meal planning, if you’re able to prep your meals ahead of time, it could make life easier and healthier. Try meal prepping for one month to see if it works for you.
- Cook at home
Another big obstacle to healthy eating is the option to eat out. I know the convenience of take out or dining out is sometimes too good to pass up, but cooking at home allows you to control the ingredients and eliminates the temptation to order unhealthy meals.
- Drink more water
An oldie by a goodie. Drinking more water each day is a tried and true healthy eating goal. Whether you go by number of glasses or ounces, it helps to keep track!
- Try new recipes
Do you have a stack of recipe books or pinned recipes on Pinterest that you saved but never tried? Tackle a 30 day challenge to try a new recipe every day. This may also help with meal planning and grocery shopping because you’ll know what you need!
- Cut back on sugar
This one is tough for me, but so good for my health. Cutting back on added sugar or eliminating it completely would make an awesome challenge for the month. You could slowly take away sugar every day (such as cutting back the amount you put in coffee) or go cold turkey.
- Try intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting focuses on when you eat instead of what you eat. You basically choose a certain timeframe during the day when you eat and then you fast the rest of the day and night. It’s not for everyone, but it might be something to try for a month if it makes sense for your lifestyle.
Fitness Challenge Ideas
- Walking
Walking is one of the easiest ways to be physically active. You can challenge yourself a certain distance or a certain number of steps to hit each day or gradually increase your distance/steps over 30 days.
- Squat challenge
I’ve done this one before and loved it! If I’m being honest, I wanted my butt to look better in jeans, so I looked up a squat challenge. I started day 1 with 20 squats and gradually worked up to 100 on day 30 (some days were rest days, too!)
- Push-up challenge
If you struggle with upper body strength like I do, maybe a push-up challenge is for you. Build strength each day by slowly adding more reps. By the end of 30 days, you’ll be stronger for sure!
- Yoga
I’ve also done this one! I followed a free program by Yoga with Adrienne. She has calendars and playlists already set up to do for 30 days. All you have to do is roll out your mat and hit play.
- Full body workout plan
If you want a more robust physical activity plan, try building out a full body workout as a monthly challenge. Pick a different body part to work on each day (arms, back, legs, glutes, abs, etc.) Don’t forget to add in rest days!
- Couch to 5K
This is a fun one if you want to have a big goal at the end. Sign up for a 5K race in your area and then work backwards to slowly build up your stamina for 30 days.
- Plank
The plank is a classic position to build core strength. It’s a key move in yoga, pilates and many other training programs. Slowly build up how long you can hold a plank and try different variations in this 30-day plank challenge.
- Stretch
Stretching is another important aspect of physical health. It helps with flexibility and overall mobility. Check out this stretching challenge for beginners.
- Move your body every day
If you like the flexibility of choosing different workouts, simply commit to moving your body every day. If you belong to a gym, you can take different classes or try different training programs so you don’t get bored, as long as you incorporate some movement into each day.
Mental health and wellbeing monthly challenge ideas
- Practice daily gratitude
Research shows that gratitude can make us happier and can have positive impacts on our psychological, social and even physical health. Practicing gratitude daily can help you see these benefits.
- Daily meditation
Recent studies suggest that meditation can help with stress and anxiety, among other things. There are many ways to meditate, so choose your favorite and try it for 30 days.
- Prioritize self-care
The idea of self-care seems to be a buzzword these days. Simply put, it means taking time to holistically approach your overall health and well-being. Whatever self-care means to you, make it a priority for 30 days.
- Create a better morning routine
If mornings are hectic or stressful, it may be time to incorporate a better morning routine. Try little steps for the next month to create a better, less stressful start to your day.
- Stick to a bedtime routine
Similarly, bedtime is an important time of the day. Being able to slowly unwind from the day can help you get better sleep and sleep health is super important. Create a routine that works for you and stick to it for the month.
- Sleep for 7-8 hours each night
Along the same lines, if you are struggling with sleep health, make it a priority to get 7-8 hours of sleep each night for the next 30 days. If that means going to bed a little earlier or spending less time watching TV, try it out!
- Get outside each day
Spending time in nature has shown to help improve mental health and cognition. Challenge yourself to get outside every day, even if that means walking in the neighborhood or sitting in your backyard.
- Daily prayer or devotional
If faith or spirituality is important to you, a great daily challenge idea for adults is to pray or practice devotionals to help you feel more grounded in your faith.
- Talk to a friends and family members
Social connections are super important for mental health and well-being. Reach out to a friend or family member every day for the next 30 days, even if it’s a quick text or email.
Couples challenge ideas
- Eat at least one meal together
In today’s hectic world, it may be difficult for schedules to mesh, but eating meals together can help you bond. Aim to eat at least one meal together at the table.
- Cook together
Similarly, cooking together can be a fun way to have a casual date. Helping each other in the kitchen and trying new recipes could be a fun challenge.
- Ask each other about your day
Making a habit of talking about your day can help strengthen your relationship. This also encourages you to express feelings and emotions that could impact your partner.
- Take a walk together
One of my favorite things to do with my husband is walk the dog after dinner. It accomplishes several things, including spending time together, exercising and experiencing nature.
- Read together
Another favorite habit of mine is to read. How fun would it be to complete a reading challenge together? Even if you read different books, making the time to read together could have a big impact.
- Plan a free or cheap date monthly challenge
Planning a month’s worth of dates might feel like a lot, but it could be fun and simple! You could plan things at home, like doing a puzzle together or watching a movie, or find outdoor activities, like local hikes. There are plenty of free and cheap date ideas!
- Love notes or other tokens of affection
Try sending each other love notes or other small tokens of affection each day. This could be a text during the day, a sticky note next to the coffee pot or a hand-written note in their work bag. Get creative and show how much you love each other.
Wealth Challenge Ideas
- Savings challenge
A savings challenge is a great way to plan for a trip, home project or even as a safety net. If you want to grow your savings, commit to saving a certain dollar amount each day or gradually increase the amount each day.
- Debt pay off
Having debt can cause stress and anxiety and may prevent you from doing other things you want to do. By slowly paying off debt during a monthly challenge, you can help reach your goals faster.
- Learn about financial literacy
If you’re not sure where to start, spend the next 30 days learning about financial literacy and putting these tips into practice.
- Make coffee and meals at home
Another way to save money is to stop making purchases for a month. My favorite strategy is to make coffee and meals at home. Do this for the next 30 days and see how much money you save.
- Make more money
If you decide you just need more income, you could commit to making more money. This could mean looking for a new job or finding a side hustle. Stick to it for a month and see what happens!
- Look for non-essential expenses to cut
Do you have a lot of recurring charges that you don’t even use? Many subscription programs are easy to sign up for, but also easy to forget. Look through your recurring charges or other non-essential expenses to see what can be cut.
- Spending freeze
If you have a habit of buying things often (hello, internet shopping!), it may be time to start a buying freeze. You can only spend money on things you need, such as groceries or other life-essentials.
Productivity Challenge Ideas
- Create a top 3 list
I’m a boss at writing a daily to-do list. Actually making it to the bottom? Not so much. If you feel like you add more to your to-do list than cross off, try focusing on just the top 3 each day for a monthly challenge.
- Spend 30 minutes every day working on a big goal
Whatever big goal you have, challenging yourself to work on it for just 30 minutes a day sounds super doable. You can even break down that time into two 15-minute increments.
- Plan daily outfits for the next month
Getting ready in the morning can sometimes be a big time suck if you’re not sure what to wear. Planning your outfits for the next 30 days could give you back a big chunk of time each day by doing the ‘work’ up front.
- Time block your calendar
The method of time blocking can help you focus on one task at a time. Give it a try and see how much you can accomplish.
- Try the Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro Technique encourages 25-minutes of focused work followed by 5-minute breaks. After 4, 30-minute cycles, you take a longer break. Try this method for the next month and see if it improves your productivity.
- Declutter
I am often overwhelmed by the amount of stuff we accumulate in our home. From the drawers to the common areas, there seems to be junk everywhere. When it gets to this point, it’s difficult to start the process of decluttering. But breaking the task into a monthly challenge would be easier. You could pick one area to declutter each day or choose to declutter just one item every day.
- Organize
Organizing is another area that will always help my mental health. Starting from my workspace to the kitchen to the bathroom, there’s always something to organize! Just like the decluttering task, breaking down your organization by categories or areas of the home could help you feel better in just 30 days.
- Deep clean your house
The idea of deep cleaning can be overwhelming, but it’s deeply satisfying when your whole house is refreshed. Instead of trying to cram it into one day or weekend, take one area each day for the next 30 days.
- Reduce distractions during work time
Do you find yourself constantly jumping from one task to another? Reduce distractions to see if you can focus on one task at a time. Turn your phone or email on “do not disturb” for a certain time frame each day.
Blogging business challenge ideas
- Focus on one task each day
For most bloggers/small business owners, they are doing all the tasks solo. Instead of trying to do everything, every day, focus on one task each day. For instance, day 1 – writing posts, day 2 – social media, day 3 – pinterest, day 4 – email marketing, etc.
- Post on social media every day
Another method to grow your blog or business is to post to your preferred platforms every day. See if doing this for a month helps grow your channels or results in a more engaged audience.
- Create new pins
Need help with traffic from Pinterest? Focus on creating and pinning new pins every day.
- Optimize one blog post for SEO
Organic traffic is another area that could help your blog. Take one older blog post each day and update it for SEO.
- Learn with a course
If you’re feeling a little behind in one area of your business, invest in a course to learn about that topic. Take the lessons and implement them over the next 30 days. Check out my favorite blogging resources to find some courses I recommend.
- Email your list
If you haven’t spent time growing your email list, this is a great challenge. Research suggests for every $1 spent on email there is a return of $4. That’s huge! Start emailing your list every day if you already have one, or commit to building your list for a month.
- Create a new product
Digital products are a great way to monetize your blogging business. If you’ve been putting off creating a product, you can use the next 30 days to work on creating one.
- Look for guest blog opportunities
One way to increase your reach is through guest blogging. This helps build your backlinks which helps increase your domain authority. Try reaching out to other bloggers in your niche, perhaps one outreach each day.
- Add affiliate links to blog posts
Affiliate marketing is another way many bloggers make money. You receive a special link to products you recommend and then add them to your posts so when people make a purchase, you get a small commission. Applying to new programs and adding links to old and new blog posts can help build your passive income.
How to follow through on a challenge
You may be asking do 30-day challenges work? Well, I think it depends on you and if you’re willing to commit the time. For me, the idea of completing the “challenge” really inspires me to keep going. I tend to be pretty competitive with myself, so getting to the finish line motivates me to follow through.
Here are some additional strategies I’ve used to finish:
- Write daily tasks in a planner or time block your Google calendar.
- Print out a tracker and pin to the refrigerator to check off each day.
- Put a daily alarm/reminder on your phone for the same time every day.
- Ask an accountability partner to complete the challenge with you or to update throughout the month.
- Reward yourself at the end, even if it’s something small like treating yourself to ice cream or a new book.
Why do a 30 day challenge?
As I mentioned above, I’m the type of person who likes to go all in on everything. My mind immediately thinks of a million things for my to-do list when I want to accomplish something.
Breaking down my to-do list into simple daily tasks helps make my goals more sustainable. It’s also easier to look ahead to the finish line and know you can make it to the end.
If at the end of 30 days, the activity is still serving you, you may choose to continue doing it. In fact, research suggests it takes an average of 59 days to form a new habit.
If you don’t feel like the activity is helping, you can decide to move on to another monthly challenge or try a different method altogether.
Final Thoughts
Ready to try your own 30 day challenge? I highly encourage you to give it a try! Just pick one topic to start and map out your next 30 days. Think what you can accomplish in just one month!
I hope at least one of these 30-day challenge ideas for self-improvement resonates with you. Let me know in the comments below which challenge idea you’re going to try or tell me something that I missed.