A return to the monthly challenges

It is 1 February and I have now turned my attention back to my simple beautiful life and have joyfully returned to my monthly challenges.

I recently wrote a blog post about choosing my word for 2022 – which is “presence.” You can read it here.

With everything I do this year, I will be mindful of being present, and this will include being more present as I rise to my monthly challenges.

My overarching themes of simplicity, self-focus, and our stories will flow through the challenges too.

I thought I could start with an explanation for why I like setting myself challenges every month.

Why Challenge Ourselves?

I set myself monthly challenges to try out new ways of living. My aim is to improve my life, through small shifts in the way I spend my days, weeks and months. It usually leads to personal growth in some form, which I see as a beneficial thing.

As I have gained experience and learned more, I realise that feeling “good enough” is a very important part of setting challenges.

• Challenging ourselves to grow and evolve should be empowering.
• Challenges are by you and for you. They are self-imposed.
• Personal progress is a great feeling if we manage it sustainably, simply and with flexibility.
• Challenges teach us about perseverance, overcoming struggle, and accountability.
• But, while challenges can serve as practical tools for inspiration and gradual improvement in our lives, we need to strive to accept ourselves just as we are.

I believe challenges can improve our lives, enhance our wellbeing and boost our quality of life!

“Why did I sign up for this?’

‘Because we grow by challenging ourselves.” 

Beth Fantaskey

Why Do I Share My Monthly Challenges?

I share my challenges as an invitation for you to get inspired, to set yourself challenges, or to join me with monthly challenges.

Some of my self-improvement tweaks may well be relatable to you, so my hope, by sharing my challenges here, is that they could inspire you to make shifts suited to your own goals. 

Keep consistency in mind and every day carry on learning, be gentle with yourself, and keep making progress towards creating the life that you want. I would encourage you to live moment by moment and step by step as you challenge yourself to grow.

It can be a more simple and beautiful life.

“Always believe in yourself and always stretch yourself beyond your limits. Your life is worth a lot more than you think because you are capable of accomplishing more than you know. You have more potential than you think, but you will never know your full potential unless you keep challenging yourself and pushing beyond your own self imposed limits.” 

Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

Monthly Challenges – February 2022

It is a good feeling to be listing monthly challenges again; these are the first after a break of a year or so.

I divide my personal challenges into 4 areas of life, as this helps to simplify the list so I can more easily focus on my various goals. I have expanded these for clarity.

This quote explains how our lives are made up of different areas that all need attention to ensure we lead balanced lives. I have included it before, but am adding it here again.

“There is an Indian proverb that says that everyone is a house with four rooms, a physical, a mental, an emotional, and a spiritual . Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time but unless we go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we are not a complete person.”

Rumer Godden

Self – Mind/ Spiritual/ Intellectual/ Emotional

• leading a 28-day meditation challenge
• learn or read something inspirational every day

Health – Body/ Physical

• start the day with a glass of water
• enjoy a daily smoothie
• 7 x per week 10 squats, 10 pushups and a 1 minute plank
• 3 x per week biokinetics exercises for core strength and back support
• 1 x per week pilates class

Wealth – Work/ Finances/ Career

• prioritise income-generating work
• also write a blog every week
  • and turn this into an email
  • and into social media for the week

Social – Community/ Environment/ Family

• focus on being present with my family
• stay present with our house renovation to-do list

So that is the February focus. It has started well. A commitment to meditation is always a good idea, as it holds everything else. A commitment to myself, my mind and my body, is increasingly important to me. Simplifying my work is sensible and simple and supports my 2022 theme of presence.

Let me know if you set yourself monthly challenges or weekly or end of year goals. I would love to hear your thoughts about keeping on track and accountability.

For More

If you enjoy images and others’ wisdom and think you might like to follow my experience as I learn and share – please follow me at my Simple Beautiful Life Instagram page. It’s about the things I believe in – simplicity and self-focus, and our stories.

If you enjoy reading – please browse my Simple Beautiful Life blog where I write about simplifying life and challenging ourselves to get better at living a good life.

If you enjoy simple systems – please grab my Scattered to Serene where I offer some simple ways to manage your days and improve your life.

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Thanks for reading