These 7 Mini-Challenges are Your Guide to a New You by New Year’s

Are you up for the Challenge?

“Challenges” are all the rage right now — there are contests for every kind of goal and the opportunities to boast about your (pardon my language) bad-ass-ness are aplenty.

And I get it. We all crave praise and props for how amazing we are. But the goal of a Challenge can go so much deeper than bragging rights about how many pushups, burpees or tire flips you can do.  

Yes, it’s fun to ride the “pride-al” wave of success, but understanding the true purpose behind a Challenge can lend you longer-lasting and more meaningful benefits… not to mention reduce your risk of injury.  

At its core, a Challenge is an opportunity for growth.

It’s an opportunity to rise to the occasion, push through limiting beliefs and bust through roadblocks that may have held you back in the past.

It is a chance to prove to yourself what you are really capable of, but it should also be a platform for listening to the wisdom of your body — sometimes the challenge is knowing when to back off.  

What makes you unstoppable is connecting your inner wisdom to the strength of your mind, then uniting that strength with the fortitude of your spirit!

When you take a Challenge, ego must be set aside. You must fully tap into your inner strength AND deepest wisdom.

You see, most challenges are not without risk — if they were, they wouldn’t be a “challenge.” However, taking a challenge that ultimately puts you at risk for an injury, illness, or other major setback is just foolish.

This is where the true challenge resides — the marriage of physical effort with mental intelligence and intuition leads to true breakthroughs.

Example:

A 2-minute Plank Challenge is a challenge in both physical fitness and mental toughness, but it becomes a challenge of Respect when your form begins to fail and the effort to recover is no longer viable.

What to do? Push through? Risk a back injury? NO! When form is failing the success lies in recognizing the wise move is to drop to your knees to regain form or stop the plank all together.

This may be one of the toughest challenges yet — to respect your body, listen to your energy, AND defeat limiting beliefs…  

Do you believe you’re only successful if you perform the physical task to completion? Are you successful if you accomplish the Challenge but walk away injured?

The limiting belief may be that if you don’t complete the challenge you are a failure, a quitter, or weak-willed.

In fact, you are not a failure. You are wise for regarding the signs of potential injury and stopping before it occurs.

I have an opportunity for you. A chance to take little steps toward your bigger goals and infuse some wisdom and temperance into your “muscle through it” mentality.

My series of 7 Mini Challenges is an opportunity for you to grow in new ways and learn about yourself, including your hidden tendencies for self-sabotage — be it pushing too hard or not pushing hard enough. Be it holding your feet to the fire or letting yourself off the hook — both tendencies are based on fear.

>>Both are afraid of failure. One pushes the limits to avoid defeat while the other takes no action to avoid disappointment in the first place. <<

Your hurdle may be backing off while another’s may be pushing through.

Here are 7 Mini Challenges  you can engage in for the next 4 weeks. Use them as a way to prepare yourself for the New Year and all of the big goals you intend to achieve.

Goal: “Push” yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally in different areas of

your health and fitness that:  

• Respect your limits but don’t hold you back from a breakthrough.  
• Sharpen your focus, strengthen your resolve, respect boundaries and open you up to new ways of being.
• Allow you to get to know yourself so you learn how to continuously set and meet goals.

You can participate in some or all of the 7 Mini Challenges. Each day a new  Challenge will be posted on Facebook:

Challenge 1: Plank Challenge: Hold High Plank as long as you can with perfect form

and no pain in joints, low back or spine. Perform High Plank every day

for a week as watch as your strength and mental fortitude skyrocket.

Challenge 2: Addictive Food Challenge: Avoid the food you struggle to cut out. It

may be sugar, alcohol, fast food, processed carbohydrates, soda, or items with artificial additives. Commit to cutting it out for 1 full day — 24 hours — each week until the New Year.  

Challenge 3: Pushup Challenge: How many standard pushups can you do on your

toes with Perfect Form? Is your form perfect only on your knees? It’s okay… form first! Build strength with alignment and you’ll be on your toes in no time. Perform as many pushups as you can on your toes each day for one week.

Challenge 4: Meditation Challenge: Start with one minute of meditative silence and deep breathing; Each day add 1 minute until you come up against resistance — there you will find your challenge time. Do this for one week.

Challenge 5: Flexibility Challenge: Commit to less than 10 minutes of Yoga every day for one week and see how soon you can touch your toes and be relieved of nagging aches and pain. [Download my free yoga DVD here.]  

Challenge 6: Balance Challenge: How long can you hold Tree Pose with perfect alignment, steady breath, and focused mind? Try it out each day for one week — try to balance on each side for the same amount of time.

Challenge 7: Hydration Challenge: increase water intake daily by 8 oz. — that’s one extra ounce each hour for 8 hours. On Day 2, try 2 extra ounces, Day 3, 3 ounces and so on until you meet a 3 liter daily intake goal.   

As you engage in each Challenge, document what comes up for you — where does the true Challenge reside for you? Be observant, curious, and respectful for whatever comes up then share on Facebook!