Theme: Healthy Practices
Challenge: “This September I Will”

I am so excited about our new monthly challenge series as I believe it will help us make sustained progress on our health and fitness goals!

But first, I need to back up a bit. When I took over as group leader in May 2017, I wanted to change the focus of this group. Having read extensively and taken several courses about how habits are formed, I wanted this group to help people create and sustain healthy habits that would make their lives better. We ARE our daily habits. Our habits can help us get what we want out of life, or they can hold us back. I also believe that health and wellness extend beyond just diet and exercise. Our mindset, our happiness, our stress, as well as many other factors interplay and directly impact our health. We shouldn’t ignore these other aspects of our lives.

Overall, I’m very happy with this group and what we’ve accomplished. Our weekly challenges let us “test drive” a healthy behavior that we may not have considered before and see if it’s a good fit for us; something we might want to keep doing and make into a daily habit. But there are some shortcomings to the current structure, that came to light as I was reading your “New Year’s in August“ resolutions. For many of us, we are still pretty far from accomplishing our health goals and I’d like to change that.

Here’s what I see are the downsides of our current challenge structure:

RELEVANCY: Although I try to cast a wide net in the kinds of challenges we work on, they may not be what you believe you need to focus on.

LENGTH OF TIME: Despite popular belief, habits don’t magically form in 21 days. How long it takes to develop a habit depends on a number of factors, but it’s clear that habits are created through repetition over time; by doing something over and over again until it becomes second nature to us. One week isn’t a lot of time to form a new habit, so this new approach will lengthen the time frame to a full month.

THE “READING ABYSS” It’s easy to think that by reading about something, that we’ve done something about it. Or that if we read and gather enough ideas, then we’ll be ready to act. But if you only read our weekly challenges and follow the comments of those who are participating and posting, I don't think anything will change for you. It’s our actions that change our lives, not what we read about and contemplate doing. You already have enough information. You don’t need more ideas. We just need to commit to our goals, lay out a plan, roll up our sleeves, and do the hard work that is changing our lives for the better. This new monthly challenge will help us do just that.

Our New “This month I will...” Series:

Each new month is like a mini New Years. It’s a clean slate and a fresh start and an opportunity to make real progress on the goals that we have. Let’s seize this great opportunity by specifying and committing to a personalized goal that we have for ourselves. What do you want to accomplish this September? What do you need to do to move your health and your life forward? How can we help you achieve your goals?

Try to frame your goals along these lines:

• My goal for this month (Maybe phrase it as: This September I will...")
• The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish my goal
• How often you’ll be taking these actions (daily is best if possible)
• What help do you need from us?
• What does success look like to you at the end of September?

Please don’t dismiss an action as too small to have any real impact. Swapping a 20-ounce bottle of soda every day for a calorie-free drink should result in 25 pounds lost over a year from that change alone. Taking a 22-minute walk every day will make your heart, brain, and lungs function better, you’ll have more energy, and you’ll feel better. Why 22 minutes? Because if you exercise for just 22 minutes a day every day you’ll also be meeting the public health recommendation to exercise 150 minutes a week. We change our lives through our daily habits and we change our habits through small sustainable actions.

Moving forward, we will be kicking off each new month with this customized challenge. Over the course of a year that’s 12 new habits you’ll be creating for yourself. Talk about forward momentum! Our regular weekly challenges will resume after this first challenge, but we’ll be starting each month with a personalized goal that we want to work on!


This Month’s Challenge: Please post one goal that you have for yourself this month. Be specific and identify the action steps that you’ll be taking to accomplish goal. Don’t select something you think you should do, but really don’t want to do. Habits are much more likely to stick if you choose something you want to do.

You’ll also be more likely to reach your goal if you make it public by posting it here. Why? Well, social scientists tell us that we all have a need to be seen as true to our word. If we make a public commitment to something, we are more likely to follow through than if we keep it to ourselves. When you post, others can learn from you and your experiences and we can all support and encourage you as you make changes in your life.

Let’s get to it! What are you going to accomplish this September?

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Suggested Resources:

What a Lion Tamer Can Teach Us About Focus, Concentration, and Taking Action:
https://jamesclear.com/how-to-focus

Try Something New For 30 Days:
https://www.ted.com/talks/matt_cutts_try_something_new_for_30_days/

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