100 Days

My mom introduced me to the concept and I am eternally grateful for it. This concept put me over the edge; it allowed me to go that last mile and produce something concrete. 

I like to think I am a pretty disciplined person and in most cases I am. But like in all things - as the expression goes - life gets in the way. We all have reasons and challenges that prevent us from doing that one thing, such as working out, completing a home improvement project, or learning a new skill (in my case writing). All these and more corrupt our path to get what we want. How many times had I started making a good habit to achieve what I want, only to get derailed part way through because my routine changed. Maybe a doctor's appointment or family/friends you have not seen in some time come to town? Perhaps a change at work forces an established routine to become no longer viable (COVID-19 has done its fair share of that). 

Not to sound like a self help book, but there are always reasons - in their thousands - to not do something. 100 days was my reason to do something.

As I said before, I am pretty disciplined person. When I set to a goal, I do it with gusto. I don't like to fail, but in the end, life happens. I would come back to the goal easily enough, but getting derailed for a week or maybe a month, is costly. It feels more discouraging to start again. Sometimes, starting again means you rolled down the mountain halfway up and now have to begin from the base. Starting over hurts, delaying your goal hurts, and it all leads to being discouraged to some degree. 

What is the 100 Day Challenge?

A 100 Day Challenge is something very simple. It is a statement:

"I am going to do <insert task> every day for the next 100 days."

In my case, it has been writing. The material I am going to release next week is a result of my third 100 day challenge. The last two have taught me more and kept me more focused than the previous couple years. 

As I mentioned above, my mom introduced me to the concept. This happened last year. Without jumping into to many personal details, last year was filled with changes and was a turbulent time. Through it all, my mom mentioned she had to play her bagpipes. She would pause a visit or leave early to go about her day to fit in playing bagpipes wherever she could. I saw this and was intrigued. We had a conversation about it and it was such a simple thing to do, that I immediately adopted it. 

I was already part way into a writing project and for the first time, I was tracking my efficiency by recording how many days it took me to complete a chapter. It was not a good picture but was not a bad one. I was finding gaps in the progress but progress was still steady. Still, I did not have the consistency I thought I always had. I remember talking to people and saying, "I aim to write every day." After recording my progress for awhile, this was clearly not the case. Learning this somewhat crushed my identity a little bit, the mostly disciplined person I thought I was not the image I created in my own mind. 

Looking for any tool to build me to build the self-image I wanted to achieve, the 100 Day Challenge was my lifesaver. It has created a new norm in my life and the results have been outstanding. Since starting this practice, I have written a full manuscript in the first and edited that manuscript to a higher degree and quality than any previous attempt, in a shorter time, in the second. In my third challenge, I have written half a manuscript as well as edited it (and you will get to see the results of this third 100 day challenge next Tuesday!). All because I said, "I am going to write every day for the next 100 days."

How to do it?

I highly recommend trying this on your own and would love to hear your experiences. 

Step 1: 

Create your statement. Its that simple.

"I am going to do <insert task> every day for the next 100 days."

Step 2: 

I found the most helpful thing is record/journal your progress. 

In the first couple, I was recording when benchmarks were completed, such as a chapter written or a editing stage done. But in the third challenge I began to record my progress daily and this has been by far the most motivating. I have gotten to see my word count grow and my workflow in a much greater degree. Plus it feels great putting down that forward progress and gives some self accountability, by seeing what can be accomplished on a busy day where you have work, appointments, and other obligations - versus a day where you have the full time to yourself. Also its much harder to find the time for your task when life gets in the way if you have a record of time invested. On the days I did not feel like writing after working a long day or wanting to meet up with friends/family at the end of the week, I felt guilty and found time to throw down a few words because if I recorded a blank day in the middle, it would have made the previous days feel less valuable. Also nothing is more sexy and fun than making an excel spreadsheet.

Step 3: 

Be open about your challenge to those in your life. 

Even though you will always get the guilt to do other things, being open and honest about your challenge will motivate others around you to encourage you, especially when you are deep in. In the past, I always found it hard to say no when I wanted to do something else, like go to a movie with my cousins or hang out and paint models with my friends. Telling them about the 100 day challenge and my goal, encouraged friends and family not to give me a hung amount of guilt when I said I would be a little later than expected for an engagement. In my experience, you will still receive some peer pressure, but its easier for you and others to forgive when you explain that this NEEDS to happen before you can make it out. 

Step 4: 

Make your daily goal achievable. 

This may take some learning as you go. I would say start out with start high and then shift as necessary. For example, my original goal was to write an hour a day. Most days this was achievable; others, due to life's surprises, was not. So the goal became write an hour a day whenever possible and on days with surprises, write as much as you can - just 15 minutes if need be. Now on my third challenge, I aimed for a minimum word count which has increased my productivity for those challenging days. 

Conclusion

I am going to conclude this blog in classic blunt Brett fashion after a ramble. 

100 Day Challenges are great, thanks mom. You all do one too.