***Get your copy of The 30 Day Challenge Book: 500 Ideas to Inspire Your Life here***
You don’t always need to partake in massive life altering experiences, around the world adventures or make drastic lifestyle changes to your routine to make a significant difference to your life. Although I’ll never say no to an adventure, I’d like to think that long term change comes from your outlook on life. It’s not necessarily where you are, but what you do with your time there. Change yourself from the inside first.
What I like about the whole 30 day challenge project is that you can make a massive difference to your life without having to spend loads of money, relocate or wait until the time is right. The majority of the 30 day challenge ideas I’ve listed here can be done anywhere — some of them for as little as five minutes a day. I first heard about 30 day challenges from Matt Cutts in his inspiring TED talk
100 30 day challenge ideas
1. Take a photo a day on your way to work.
2. Give a compliment a day.
3. Speak to someone new every day.
4. Keep a thought journal.
5. Write your dreams down every morning for 30 days.
6. Give up alcohol for a month.
7. Give up TV for a month.
8. Listen to a new song every day.
9. Spend five minutes focusing on your breath every day.
10. Take time out each day to watch your thoughts play out like a film — observing without judgement.
11. Be totally honest — so no lying for 30 days (harder than you think).
12. Draw or paint a picture a day.
13. Learn something new every day.
14. Teach others something new every day.
15. Think of your worst habit, you’ve been meaning to ditch and give it up for 30 days.
16. Drink eight glasses of water a day.
17. Try hot yoga every day — many studios offer an intro discount!
18. Ditch the news for a month and instead seek out an interesting article to read every day.
19. Cook or bake something new each day.
20. Spend five minutes a day repeating a positive affirmation you’ve set yourself.
21. Keep a laughter journal. Write down one thing a day that made you really laugh hard.
22. Go for a 15 minute run every day
23. Do 50 sit-ups a day.
24. Write a handwritten letter or send a postcard a day to old friends.
25. Learn a dance routine as part of a group
26. Cycle to work
27. Write down a positive thought a day
28. Keep a gratitude list for 30 days
29. Before you go to sleep, think about the best thing that happened to you that day for five minutes.
30. What have you always wanted to do but never have? Spend 30 days writing down ideas for accomplishing your goal.
31. Spend at least five minutes doing laughter yoga every day.
32. Knit a scarf in a month doing a few lines a day.
33. Drink green tea (high in antioxidants) every morning.
34. Give up bitching for a month or saying anything negative about people.
35. Write a book in a month with help from National Novel Writing Month
36. Go money free or live on a strict budget for a month then splash out at the end.
37. Wake up at 6am to meditate every morning
38. Play devils advocate with yourself each day and really examine your own beliefs.
39. Face a new fear a day — talk to a stranger, pick up a spider… push yourself put of your comfort zone
40. Learn to love yourself just a little bit more each day. You deserve it.
41. Become a master of magic and learn a trick a day — just watch some youtube videos.
42. Watch a film a day
43. Take a photograph of your food every day — it might force you to prepare nicer looking meals.
44. Experiment wearing a new outfit every day.
45. Plant a flower a day — in your garden or just in random places.
46. Do karma yoga (selfless service) for at least 15 mins a day.
47. Take up a new interesting hobby — tai chi, free running, pottery…
48. Write loads of cool ideas for things to do in a hat and pull out a different thing each day.
49. Tell someone you love them each day.
50. Text, write, message…people you care about and tell them why they’re important to you.
51. Learn to draw the human face — record your progress in a sketchbook and be a mazed at the results.
52. Take up life drawing.
53. Learn a new instrument in a month — the ukulele, cello, flute — whatever takes your fancy.
54. Bring your own lunch to work.
55. Be the Yes man for a month and start saying yes to stuff.
56. Stop smoking for 30 days.
57. Create a postcard sized piece of art each day and have a work of art to display at the end of the month.
58. Make a patchwork quilt in a month with 30 squares.
59. Research a different religion or philosophy every day for a month.
60. Read about a different period of history every day.
61. Get knowledgeable about art and pick an art movement a day to inspire you.
62. Do one thing each day that makes you feel inspired.
63. Live in an ashram for a month or visit a temple every day.
64. Revamp your house in a month and learn one upcycling trick a day.
65. Learn a new word every day.
66. Spend 30-60 mins practising a new language.
67. If you live in a city, try to spend some time each day in nature whether it’s your garden, a park or the countryside.
68. Do an hour of exercise a day.
69. Go on a date with yourself or partner doing something new each day.
70. Make an item of jewellery a day
71. Cut out the caffeine for a month
72. Learn to lucid dream in 30 days
73. Ditch social media sites for 30 days, or limit yourself to a few minutes a day.
74. Spend 30 days being a vegetarian or vegan
75. Eat something you’ve never tried before every day.
76. Do an act of kindness a day.
77. Go without talking for a month or visit a silent retreat.
78. Visit a new website a day.
79. Go internet free for a month.
80. Donate a bit of money to charity every day.
81. Read a chapter of a book idea
82. Spend a month reading the Bible.
83. Research a different Hindu God each day.
84. Make a 30 page hand drawn comic book in a month
85. Ditch your car for a month.
86. Be positive for 30 days — even when things go wrong, look only for the positives.
87. Try out napping in the afternoon or changing your regular sleeping patterns.
88. Spend 30 days fundraising for a charity or cause of your choice.
89. Go on a 30 day bike ride and see how far you get .
90. Spend 30 days eating (healthy) raw food meals.
91. Do a brain training puzzle a day like sudoku, crosswords or anything on lumosity.
92. Feel beautiful in your own skin every day.
93. Create a bucket list of 30 items in 30 days.
94. Write down something you love about your partner every day and give them the list after your month is up.
95. Read a poem a day.
96. Write a poem a day.
97. Dance every day — whether you’re good at it or not.
98. Don’t buy anything new for a month.
99. Sell 30 things you don’t need, use or wear anymore and see how much money you make at the end of the month.
100. Spend each day being as ‘present’ as possible and making the most of simple acts and routine tasks. Life will feel brighter and you will hopefully feel more fulfilled. It’s not often what we’ve got or where we are, but our attitude to what life throws our way.
Thank you for reading and I wish you all the best of luck with whatever challenge you choose to take on. If you decide to try any of the challenges on this list, stay in touch. I’d love to hear how you got on.
And finally, due to the popularity of this blog post, I wrote a book called The 30 Day Challenge Book: 500 Ideas to Inspire Your Life. It includes 500 ideas which have all been organised into the following categories:
- Health, food and fitness 30 day challenges
- Self improvement, inner life and meditation 30 day challenges
- Recreation, art and creative 30 day challenges
- Home life, Professional life and finance 30 day challenges
- Intellectual and educational 30 day challenges
- Social, relationships and kindness 30 day challenges
As part of the book, you also get a free 30 day challenge planner chart which you can print out to track your progress.
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