There have been several challenges, from just over a year ago, which have been grinding me down. Slow, but steadily. To focus on the good things that happened, I’ve started out with a small challenge to finalise 2024 for myself.
The mental switch I needed came from a single idea. I’m unsure where the original quote came from, it focused on 1 hour every day.
Take the time to put in 2 hours into self-improvement every day. It’s less than 10% of your day, it adds up to 30 days in total, yearly.
My Adapted Version
It will always add up. Yes, I know, a 2-hour window can feel a little too long, but think of it in smaller segments. The segments don’t have to be done in order, or one immediately after another. The key rule is to fulfil the 2 hours every day, you can adjust your time segments as you need.
It’s important to note, these are just suggestions to put it into a better perspective. For instance, on a rest day for exercising, I will do 15 minutes instead of 30. A 5-minute stretch, and 10 minutes’ walk. Then, add the extra 15-minutes to the creativity.
That uses the following as an example, to put it into a better perspective:
- 30 minutes, in the morning: Exercises (bodyweight, home equipment, gym)
- 30 minutes, after work: Hobby that can ease your daily stress through creativity
- 1 hour, after dinner: Hobby that can help you improve
Yes, that’s 15 days of self-improvement in a year. It never has to be set in stone! Want to learn to make brownies in your air fryer? Put the action in this slot. Want to better your knowledge on saving finances? Or even learn how to do a physical activity like crochet? This can be your improvement slot.
The 7.5 days exercise? The aim isn’t to just burn yourself out just to get some gains, in your muscles. You may aim for that, if you’d like to, but even just going for a 30 minute walk every day can improve your health in tremendous ways.
The 7.5 days creative hobby? Put your mind at ease, wind down after work, focus on something which you find fun. I even find it fun doing my GPT training experiments, do what makes you happy and feel less stressed.
Everyone tries to stick to new-year’s resolutions. The problem is they don’t always focus on the required consistency needed. So, start small, then it will eventually become your daily habit, do your best to stay consistent.
People always share they don’t see results, so it isn’t working. Just focus on the energy you feel throughout the day after doing a little exercise every morning, take a look every few weeks at how much you have learned, consider how your stress levels have decreased over time.
With my own flaws, I’m now at day 15 of this challenge, and I’m already feeling way better. This year started out tough, but I’m now back with a calm mind enjoying the fact I could do tons of cool things as well, like my first wonderful solo trip overseas.
I’m even finalising Active e-Fitness, with the new structures I’ve been working with, on paper, and moved to doing exercises every 5 days of 7 for consistency.
I hope that others can try this out for a month at the 2 hours, it’s 2.5 days of self-improvement, and recognise the results and improvements fast, as I did. Note it can even be as small as you read a book for 2 hours every day. Even if it isn’t for self-improvement, the calm it will bring can help you with your everyday stress, which itself, is an improvement as well.
