“Respect your efforts and yourself. Self respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that’s true power” – Clint Eastwood
Welcome to part two of three in the series on 30 day challenges for greater self-discipline.
These challenges will be slightly harder than the ones presented in the last section, but easier than the ones to come in the advanced section. We could call these intermediate level challenges.
Remember, it’s important to build up your self-discipline step by step, beginning with the easier challenges before taking on the harder ones. If you start above your level you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Don’t be afraid to go back to the beginner level challenges and complete a few of them before continuing with the ones below.
Whenever you feel ready, take on the challenges below.
Intermediate level challenges.
1) No swearing or cursing.
If you don’t swear or curse, feel free to skip this one and go on to the next, but the fact is most of us do it subconsciously and far too often.
Curse words have their place in a language and there are appropriate times to use them, but it seems like an epidemic today if you listen to most people talk how often they use them. This challenge will be difficult precisely because it forces you to become aware of ingrained habits and change them within a reasonably short period of time.
If you curse often you’ll almost certainly fail at this within the first few days. A lot of or linguistic habits are deeply entrenched in our brains and the words roll off our tongues before we even notice. No matter how many times you fail, keep going and try again.
This will take a dedicated person to stick with and complete. I plan to take up this challenge in February 2015, and will be forcing myself to donate $1 to the charity IHF every time I swear that month. I’ll be posting the results so keep an eye out for that.
This challenge should include both verbal and written cursing. Every single time you use any of the “bad” words, punish yourself in some way and follow through with it (a mandatory donation to charity is the best way as it also benefits others). This conditions your mind and teaches it not to use the words. Without this incentive, there’s very little chance you will complete the challenge and so gain the self-discipline.
Don’t allow yourself away with it even once. Put the money in a jar and then give it away exactly at the end of the 30 days. If you can’t do that, write it down in a textbook and hold yourself accountable.
2) Complete a web detox.
This one will stretch most guys to breaking point.
For better or worse, the internet has become an ingrained, everyday part of our lives and most of us are on it far too often to be healthy. It’s possible to waste hours upon hours surfing the web taking in mindless content unrelated to our goals or ambitions. It can actually take over lives and destroy real life relationships. I once left a girl who I otherwise connected greatly with because she kept interrupting our conversations to go check her email and gaming accounts.
For 30 days I want you to discipline your internet habits. Go online for a maximum of 30 minutes per day to deal with practical things like answering emails related to work or urgent business. We do need the communication features of modern-day internet, but we can do without all the bullshit content we take in every day. Before you go on write a task list to complete and if you complete it in ten minutes, get offline right away. thirty minutes is the max. Don’t cheat on this, because you’re only cheating on yourself.
What this challenge really means is this: you can use connectivity to communicate with friends and family for example on whatsapp, but you have to stop browsing websites for 30 straight days. Do not open a single one. If the thought of this makes you panic or itch, you need this web detox more than anyone else.
For those who have actual practical reasons to be online such as they work on the internet or they have school projects which require them to log in, no problem. You can modify this challenge to suit your needs. Do only the tasks required of you by your job or school. No Facebook, no CNN, no Mens Health. Again, utilize the task list, set aside specific times to do this if possible, and get offline as soon as the tasks are done.
What you will find is that you have an insane amount of time that you can use to pursue other things. Most people today complain they don’t have enough hours in the day, but the fact is they spend hours browsing Facebook and reading other peoples websites. Why not use the extra time to start writing articles in your wordpad to launch your own income generating website? You could use it to go to the gym and get in great shape or to just take a nice walk in the fresh air.
In short, you could use the extra time to do things which will actually benefit you, build the kind of life you desire, and make you happy.
Take this challenge. Especially if you find yourself resisting it. That’s a sure sign that you need to do it.
3) It’s time to get fit.
Yes, you heard me correctly, it’s time to get fit.
I don’t care what age you are, how good or bad a shape you’re already in, what sports you like or don’t like. You need to take this challenge and complete it.
I toyed with putting this challenge in the advanced self-discipline section, but then I decided that it doesn’t belong there. Exercise is a basic necessity and anyone who cannot complete 30 minutes of exercise per day is in serious trouble and needs help. Remember, your ancestors used to routinely chase animals through forests and lion infested savanna before they ate, and often scaled hills, mountains, crossed rivers and went on voyages lasting days or weeks.
If you can’t complete 30 minutes on the treadmill every day, you seriously should be ashamed of yourself. You’re a human god damned being, not a vegetable!
The fitness program you embark upon for thirty days should be researched and designed to suit your goals. If you need to lose weight, jog, cycle, swim or go urban hiking.
If you need to gain strength and build muscle, try either a bodyweight workout or if you have a gym membership or are willing to get one, complete the iron triangle program broken up by days of cardio fitness in between.
The point is for 30 solid days to exercise every day. That means NO rest days. If you run like hell one day and need a few days to recover before embarking upon your next outing, there’s nothing to stop you walking on days two and three before going running again. As you get fitter you’ll find yourself recovering faster and faster and the time needed between exercise sessions will decrease.
No rest days. For 30 days, exercise every day. Break it up so as to rest a muscle group one day while working another if necessary. If you believe you can’t do it, try it and see. You will be surprised that you can and you will also be surprised at how quickly your body adapts. It is the result of 4 billion years of evolution on earth, so 30 days of exercise is a small time challenge for the human body.
That’s it for the intermediate section. Remember, pick one and do it for a month, then when it’s become easy, move on to the next session the next month. Doing two at once will likely break your will if you’re just starting out so I don’t recommend it.
Later when you have a will of iron you can combine challenges to increase the difficulty level, but for now just pick one that you think you’ll benefit from and give it 100% of your concentrated effort until completion.
Next week, I’ll publish the final part in this series, the advanced section with three difficult challenges followed by the crowning expert level challenge.
Until then,
Desire. Decide. Persist.
G-Freedom
Hello G
Nice post; however, the 1st challenge you mentioned about no swearing. Swear words, rude words or foul language (whichever term one wishes to use) is surely a matter of opinion and does it not depend on the context in which the word is used?
During my stoned college years, I would often hear phrases like 'that's good shit man' how is the use of a 'so called' swear word wrong in this context?
It is not directed at a person or meant to insult in way.
My point is that all words in any language have a place and when used appropriately have meaning regardless of whether deemed as rude or not.
What do you think?
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Hi Leon,
I completely agree that swear words have their place in a language. I believe I hinted at that above.
However, the reason I have included this is because it is a challenge which most will find moderately hard to complete. The point of the article is to take up challenges whch improve self discipline, and quitting swearing would certainly do that for most.
Thanks for commenting🙂 I checked out your blog, some thought provoking stuff! Tell me, do you think the principles you write about are applicable to non MLM business ventures? I've heard a lot of mixed things about MLM, with some saying it's a great business model and others not being so sure. You seem to know quite a bit about it, could you tell me and the other readers more?
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Hello G
Thanks for your reply. Personally, I do believe that being an MLM business owner enhances many skills which are transferable, both in a professional and personal context. In the link provided below I explain my thoughts in greater detail.
https://fromthe10thfloor.wordpress.com/2014/12/11/why-everyone-should-join-an-mlm-company/
For you and any of your readers who are considering joining an MLM company, the one thing you must do is a little research, just as you would when buying a second hand car or planning a holiday.
Here is a quick 3 point check list:
Does the company offer a product or service? If no, then it is most likely just a money game where you recruit people, but aren't selling swat. (It is this type of company which has tarnished the MLM industry for many years)
Does the company offer training and support? Everyone starting out needs some guidance, so make sure the company offers it.
What do you get for your registration fee? A lot, if not all, legit MLM companies will give you a starter kit containing marketing tools and some product to get you going. If you are asked to pay $100 and get nothing for it, you should be suspicious.
MLM is not a get rich quick scheme, it takes years of hard work, one must be driven and determined, just like these challenges you are writing about. You have to show commitment, set a goal and see it through.
Keep up the good work G, your writing inspires people to take action.
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Interesting.
I can see where your logic points here. If something useful is actually being sold (eg a health food product or an insurance policy) then I guess it's useful to those being sold to.
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