Introduction
Three weeks ago, I completed a 75-day challenge that helped me to create a better version of myself. The "75 Hard" program inspired me a few weeks before I began the challenge. I had just changed my job and wanted to take on a less complicated assignment. In the end, I came up with a challenge for 75 days. After a few days of thinking, I shared this idea with my wife and she joined me. Doing it together helped keep us both motivated.
The following list of everyday rules was created after a few hours of thinking. (All tasks should be executed every day. It’s possible to skip five days, but then the challenge will carry on for the number of days missed.)
- Follow a diet plan
- No alcohol
- Walk at least 6,000 steps
- Do sports training
- Invest at least 30 minutes into self-development
- Do at least 10 minutes of meditation
My journey
In the first few days, I felt a burst of energy and I had an understanding that this challenge was exactly what I needed. By the end of the week, the burst of energy was replaced with muscle pain, which quickly disappeared after I alternated stretching with strength training. During the first three weeks, I craved a glass of wine. But later on, this disappeared and we started enjoying soft drinks, using meditation and walks to feel relaxed instead.
After a month of constant self-improvement, I had accumulated muscle pain and fatigue from the daily routine. For the following week, I forced myself to keep going for walks and exercising even when I simply wanted to lie down and watch YouTube. I didn’t want to miss a day.
It turned out that I could meet my team and go on business trips and still have a great time without alcohol. But suddenly, on the 61st day, we went to a presentation where there were wonderful people, delicious snacks and rare varieties of wine to taste… I decided it was time to take the opportunity to skip one day. As it turned out, it was a great idea. Because of the headache and weakness in the morning, I realized that I don’t need alcohol to relax. Meditation, walks and good company fill the same void – just without the headache in the morning!
Final results & new habits
Let’s sum it all up and see what I’ve achieved:
- Improved health
- Lost 12 kg
- Read one technical book and two books on finance
- Completed several courses on personal branding and content creation
- Almost finished a two-month course on writing
I am incredibly satisfied with the results and will definitely repeat a similar challenge with different conditions in the future.
Three weeks since completing the challenge, in fact, I have managed to keep up many of the activities.
As Winston Churchill said, “to improve is to change, so to be perfect is to change often.”
Bonus: tips & helpful resources
In this bonus section, I want to share a few tips/recommendations for anyone who decides to try something similar, along with a couple of helpful resources I used.
Tips:
- Do not incorporate too many activities into the challenge. At the beginning, you can have a lot of energy, but mid-way through the journey you can feel fatigued from the new daily routine.
- Split an activity into multiple sessions if you struggle to find the time. I had this scenario with walking 6,000 steps. The best option for me was to split it into two sessions (during my lunch break and after dinner).
- Experiment with time of the day for your activities. After a few such experiments, you can create an ideal schedule for your day. For example, I prefer to carry out educational activities before I start work as it helps me to concentrate more.
- Find a partner. Doing this challenge with my wife helped keep me motivated, and vice versa.
Helpful resources:
- Sport videos: YouTube, FitOn
- Personal branding courses: LinkedIn Learning
- Meditation: Headspace, Meditopia
