I am super excited about our slate of October challenges as October is Habits Month here on the Building Healthy Habits group! Now, I know what you might be thinking…”Denise, don’t we focus on habits every week in this group?” And we do, but in October we’ll be taking a closer look at the scientific research on habits that’s been done over the last 20 years. Scientists have uncovered lots of fascinating insights about habits in the last two decades and now we can use their findings to build healthier habits. We’ll learn how habits are formed, how to change a bad habit, and how to make good habits stickier. And in Week 2 of our habits odyssey, we’ll have the opportunity to take a free, fun, and quick online habits class from a world-renowned expert on habits, Dr. BJ Fogg. This class was very popular when we ran it last March, and I think an encore session is in order! And we’ll wrap up October with two healthy habits I think everyone should cultivate: gratitude and sitting less!


We will kick off October with our new monthly challenge series, “This October I Will...” a personalized challenge that we create for ourselves. These customized challenges will help us make regular progress on the goals that we have. Plus, it’s a great warmup exercise for our other habits-based challenges this month.


Here’s what’s in store for October:

Oct 1 – Oct 7: Theme: Healthy Practices
Challenge: “This October I Will...”
What’s your goal for October? What do you want to accomplish? What healthy habit do you want to focus on this month that will make your life better? We change our lives through our daily actions....let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work!


Oct 8 - Oct 14: Theme: Healthy Practices
Challenge: How Habits Work
Building healthy habits is the cornerstone of this group. This week, let’s take a closer look at the science of how habits are formed, the components of habits, and how we can modify our existing habits to make them better work for us. And exciting news! If you sign up by October 6th, you can also participate this week in a free, online habits program developed by one of the world’s most respected authorities on habits. Details soon!


Oct 15 - Oct 21: Theme: Greater Happiness
Challenge: Making Gratitude a Habit
We all have blessings in our lives. Let's spend some time reflecting on these many gifts and make gratitude a daily habit. A deeper sense of gratitude often leads to greater happiness. I'm excited to share with you what I've learned as to how cultivating positive thoughts and appreciation can physically change the structure of our brains resulting in even greater happiness and a deeper sense of well-being.


Oct 22 – Oct 31: Theme: Exercise and Movement
Challenge: Making Sitting Less a Habit
When you think about it, sitting is just another well-ingrained habit. Let’s apply what we’ve learned about habits this month and put the brakes on too much sitting. We’ll also be “Making Our Week Harder”, a terrific concept promoted by Dr. Mike Evans to look for opportunities to add a few more steps and activity to our daily routines.