I was tired of never following through with my goals. This was evident with new year’s resolutions. Like everyone else, I would start strong and crash after a few weeks or months best. To change this, I came up with the idea of doing 12 monthly challenges instead of one long one. The thought was that I would benefit from the first few weeks of motivation every month and only have to push through for a week or so. It is strange how a shift from doing something every day for 365 days is more daunting than 12 monthly habits. This is simply a brain trick since you end up performing a task for 365 days as well.
I knew that this shorter commitment period was not a strong enough incentive to ensure that I follow through with my plan. Inspired by companies such as Stickk, I decided to create my own accountability group. Just like that, the DDW Lab was born. I would have to pay a dollar to each member of the group for every instance I did not complete the desired task. The members of the group are my close friends so I would gladly buy them a coffee or invite them for dinner. This proves that the one-dollar payment is not necessarily the biggest incentive. Instead, it is the social accountability and shame that comes with having to tell your friends you fell short today and the friction of having to e-transfer them a dollar. Again, we are leveraging our monkey brains to work for us.
You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.
James Clear – Atomic Habits
I will write an article for each monthly experiment for the year 2021. Below are the first few months and I will update this list as I go.
2021 Monthly Experiments
- January – No Phone for the First 30 Minutes of the Day
- February & March – 60 minutes of Meditation for 60 Days
- April – Morning Walk or Sunlight
- May – Five-Minute Workout
- June – Do 5 minutes of yoga per day.
- July – Read at least one minute per day
- August – Do 30 squats & 30 pushups daily
- September – Eat at least 2 servings of fermented foods daily
- October – Sober October
- November – Podfast
- December – Journal
Click the link to access the list of monthly experiments. I have been and will be updating this list. You can duplicate my Notion template but I strongly recommend that you design your own experiments. You’ll be more likely to stick to them if they better suit your goals.
*** Disclaimer
There is definitely something to be said about the value of pushing ourselves when things get tough. This approach is not mutually exclusive to putting your head in the sand and doing something difficult for the rest of your life. I do believe, however, that the system approach is more beneficial to the general public in the long term. Personally, my approach is to build strong systems so my bases are covered and I supplement this by bursts of high-motivation demanding tasks.
Affiliate Links
- Atomic Habits – James Clear