Picture this, January 1st. You wake up feeling packed full of motivation to Challenge yourself to be a better you. Resolutions start flooding in.
“No Alcohol this year”
“I’m going to stop spending and save”
“I will eat healthy this year”
How long does that last? For some, like our local radio presenter in New Zealand, it was 25 seconds.
So what is the 1212 challenge?
This year my wife and I have done a re think on how we can make our New Year’s resolution stick. We decided to break the year up in to 12 manageable chunks and have 12 different resolutions or challenges for each month of the year
It means that you aren’t committing to any one challenge, but you get a trial run of each thing chosen that you want to aim for this year.
There’s no rule as to what challenge you want to set for yourself. Maybe it’s to work out each morning. Maybe it’s to make green smoothies every day, or save a bit of money. It’s your challenges so it’s your choice
Here are our challenges for Last years 1212
January: No Spend Challenge
So this challenge doesn’t mean no money at all, instead it means no discretionary or option spending for this month. This month has a blanket ban on dairy visits, or barista coffees or movies. If we have to swipe our eftpos card or hand over cash it’s a no! Give it a go for a month and you’ll be stunned how much those small spends add up to.
February: No Added Sugar
This one I’ve had the most push back on from the family.
“You couldn’t possibly!”
“I know you’re a sweet tooth, you wouldn’t last a week.”
and while this is true, the health benefits I’ve felt since ditching the sugar for just one month is worth it.
Now I’m not saying all sugar is out the door, that would be a logistical nightmare. I can think of better things to do on my Sunday than check nutrition labels on everything we buy. No, I’m more talking added sugar. Don’t add sugar to your coffee, no full sugar Coke, maybe have hummus instead of your favorite sugar snack for morning tea, its surprisingly tasty and easy to make yourself. The positives absolutely out way the negatives on this one.
March: The $1 Challenge
This one may seem like a double up of January’s no spend, but this one is aiming to be a more enjoyable savings challenge.
Every day add another $1 to savings, day 1: $1, day 2 $2, day 3 $3 and so on.
I imagine the last 2 weeks of this month where you’re putting up to $30 a day in savings will become an absolute stretch, but at the end of march you’ll have a tasty $496 saved up, and I think that is pretty neat for 1 month.
April: Appreciation Jar Month
This one is designed to get you to think about the best things about yourself, your life, your partner or your family. Get yourself a jar and some paper. Every day, write down something you love about your partner if you have one, or yourself, or something you are passionate for and put it in the jar. My wife and I did each other for our jars. At the end of the month, crack open the jar and remind yourselves of all the things you love and appreciate. Guaranteed feel goods for this month
Want to do your own 1212 Challenge?
May: 100km 60Miles
This month is all about activity, maybe you already walk or jog 100km every month but for the unfit among us like us, this challenge is just that, A challenge.
but by the end of it, you’ll have developed another wonderful routine and I promise you’ll want to keep it up when you see just how much it has changed you.
June: Screen Time
What have we been told since the inception of screens? screen time hurts us. Your mum said it every time you complained about anything at all.
“It’s because you spend too much time in front of that TV!”
And to be fair, there probably is an element of screen time that can be damaging to our health and most certainly to our productivity. it’s certainly the first thing any successful person will tell you when you ask for tips on being as successful.
“You Shouldnt waste time watching TV when there is work to be done.”
So, on this month we went all out, no tv, no Xbox, no computer, we traded sitting on our phones for reading books, and eating dinner at the TV to eating at the table. There is something to be said about the advice, I feel more connected to my wife than ever before thanks to a little more face time and a little less screen time.
July: Positivity Challenge
This is a simple one, Put extra focus in to your mindset this month. Its all too easy to get caught up in a fake argument with your boss at work, or get yourself down because youre not where you want to be at this point in the year. Maybe things arent to good at home. This month is all about the positives. Be appreciative of what you have. You are an amazing individual, and you have what no one else can give.
Try and see the good things in life this month and maybe you’ll find that what you have is all you need.
August: 20 Pages a day
Pick up your favorite book, set aside some time and read it. 20 pages a day.
Time to head to your local library and renew your card because this month youll be reading. and youll be reading a lot.
we were at the library every weekend. Even though it was 20 pages a day, some of us forgot to stop reading as we found ourselves going down a rabbit hole in a book we were enjoying. Its true that reading is the easiest way to take more knowledge on board. I recommend at least one book you get through be non fiction for that learning boost.
I chose Courtney Carvers “soulful simplicity“
September: Self Care
We chose this one to be open to interpretation. Maybe self-care for you is long walks, maybe it’s a full morning skin routine. However, you feel you are caring for yourself, that’s what you do this month, just try and do it every morning where possible. The idea is to be building many new habits this year that will lead to making a better you.
October: Creativity
I loved this month as I got to lean hard into my writing.
I enjoy words, i enjoy putting them together to form a story and I particularly enjoy when those words are read by someone that needs to hear them, so this month was all about getting creative. Draw a picture every day or maybe even learn to sing. Pick up a new instrument and show your family what you’ve achieved at the end of the month.
November: De Clutter Challenge
I was inspired by Courtney Carvers book that I read in August to declutter my life.
This month I wanted to convert slowly to a minimalist lifestyle. My Goal was to fill a bag each week with items and donate them to my local charity.
We all have boxes fill with things we probably couldn’t even list out if we were asked what was in them, so obviously they cannot be important. Start with the non-sentimental items and build your declutter muscles before moving on to the more sentimental.
December: Fun!
Its the end of the year! you made it. This month My Wife and i focused entirely on fun. We have built some incredible habits this year and to this day we still save money, we still walk twice a day, and we certainly haven’t taken back our sugar and screen time. This month however we’ve been on adventures and went camping with family, it is all about fun, so spend this month however you like.
To Sum it up
In a nutshell that is the 1212 challenge. It is long and at times it can be grueling, but you have got this, you can make it through just like we did.
Remember that the challenges are all up to you. You can choose your own challenge. Just make sure that what you chose is something that will help you make steps towards making a better you.
