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100 Day Chalcclenge - The Programme - 2010
100 Day Chalcclenge - The Programme - 2010
Elle G Raunston
MOTIVATE ME!
The 100 day challenge program (i) friends, readers & challengers lend
me your ear
Your Oath of Personal Allegiance: Make a Commitment to Yourself and
the Challenge
Introduction to the program:
The 22nd day of September marks 100 days left of AD 2010 and it is time for action.
For this challenge we take our inspiration from ancient Rome.
I look forward to accompanying you all on what promises to be our most exciting journey
yet. If we pull together, we are assured success.
As Seneca said "you roll my log and I will roll yours".
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General Procrastinus Habitus stood in front of his legion of soldiers. Some of his men had been with
him through many campaigns and bore the battle scars to prove it, others were fresh faced and
newly recruited to the ranks.
The men, young and old waited patiently for their leader to speak. Not even the annoying flies and
bugs that swarmed through the hell hole that was Habitania could make them take their eyes off
the man in front of them.
We have fought many campaigns, but I have one last challenge for you. Are you willing to swear an
oath of personal allegiance to me.
Aye
It will be hot, it will be hard, but the rewards will be plenty, if you are willing to follow my precise
instructions. ARE YOU WITH ME?
AYE
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Too often we buy books, workbooks, self-help books and challenges. Too often we read a
few pages and fail to follow the steps outlined. Or we try and follow the program only to
find that we are not getting the kinds of results we thought we would get so we give up
usually disappointed.
The reasons why we give up are many, but the most common reason why these self-help
books fail is because we do not have any kind of stake in the program or the outcome.
Believe it or not, most programs will work, if you are willing to make a commitment to
doing so.
Are you willing to make a personal commitment to yourself and to the next 100 days of
your life?
Now I know how easy it is to say YES, so I need to offer you a warning.
This is going to be a CHALLENGE and only the strong need enter the arena.
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The first e-mail of the program proper will be sent to you on the 22nd September and one
every 10 days thereafter until the end of this challenge. The normal Daily Dose of
Motivational Medicine e-zine will be sent separately, but not on the same days as the
Challenge, so the reading won't be too onerous. You may of course opt out of these 100
day challenge emails, but you will need to tell me.
And just to prove that I never ask you to do something I am not prepared to do myself, you
can follow my progress on the 100 day challenge or to add your comments, progress to date
and / or any questions you may have - at - http://www.motivateme.info/100-days-challenge/
I look forward to hearing of your successes
Kind Regards
Elle
I want to completely clean my house so I can prep it for a re-paint. But I don't have a bulk of
free or spare time to devote to the task. What I do have is a little bit of time each day to
tackle one bit of the overall problem. But I am not just cleaning, I am discarding some of
those items that I find - because and lets face it, we all have bits and pieces littering our lives,
cluttering up the place. And if there is one thing procrastination likes - is clutter. So to make
the challenge interesting I am aiming to discard 100 things in 100 days. The first few things
are easy and I have earmarked these already. But what I am doing is taking a picture of each
item and loading them into a brand new gallery - http://www.motivateme.info/discarding-100things/ for you to keep track of. Once the obvious items have been discarded, then we will
be able to see some progress.
Q: So what can you use the 100 day challenge for?
A: Absolutely anything you like, after all it a personal battle we face and what
motivates you will probably not motivate your friends.
But to give you some additional clues on how to use the challenge:
Say you want to lose some weight - in 100 days I feel that you can lose up to 20 kilos during
that time. You can lose a lot of weight by breaking it down into manageable daily habits.
Given that we are working in blocks of 10 days (to make the maths simple) within the first
10 days you will need to lose just the first 2 kilos (or whatever your target is), which means
that each day of the first 10 days you need to find a way to lose a couple of hundred grams.
Any more and I personally don't think it is sustainable. Now I am also aware of the body's
habit of fluctuating water etc, so that is just an example. But by giving yourself the task of
manipulating your diet so you could lose 1-200 grams every day you can begin to make some
healthier food choices, so you could lose some weight. For example, you have 1 glass of
wine instead of 2, you change the calorie laden juices, colas and coffee's for other kinds of
drinks, and preferably ones that don't contain calories.
Or say you want to save $1,000 by the end of the challenge, again the trick - by the end of
the first 10 days you need to have saved consistently $10 per day, making up the first $100
by the end of day 10 (91). How do you do that? There are many ways, but perhaps the best
is to be conscious of what you spend your money on. Do you really need to buy coffee
every day? How about lunch? Why not save yourself some money and probably calories too
by taking all your meals and snacks into work. Believe me it can be done.
If study is an issue, or you want to get ahead with personal development you could read one
chapter of a book a day. How many books would that equate to by the end of the 100 day
challenge? I suppose it depends on the number of chapters per book, but you get my point.
You can even use it to learn a new language by learning a couple of new words per day.
So your first challenges:
1. Download a copy of the time log - if you don't have one already.
http://www.motivateme.info/downloads-and-free-stuff
2. Fill this in for a couple of days and you can begin to see how you can find some
spare time to work on your personal challenges
3. Write down your overall goals for the challenge. What do you want to have
achieved by the end of the challenge. I use a combination of journals, the workbook
and my task list in Gmail. But you can use what ever works best for you. But you do
need to write them down.
4. Dont forget to read your copy of the Get S.M.A.R.T with goal setting.
5. Break down your overall goals into your daily schedule / program. What do you
need to do each day? Again it is vital that you write these down. Our minds have a
nasty habit of "forgetting" things, so ensure you write down what it is you need to
do each day.
6. Begin
Remember - you can use the 100 day challenge to meet your long term goals too. These are
goals that are perhaps a few years out from where you are now. Just remember this - if you
can succeed with your goals for 100 days just think what you can achieve in a couple of years
- exciting isn't it.
I will be writing a blog post per day for the duration of the this challenge so you can keep an
eye on what I am hoping to achieve in these last 100 days of AD 2010 - today's can be found
at http://www.motivateme.info/100-day-challenge/2010/9/22/september-22nd-day-100decisions-decisions-decisions.html
I will also be adding a new picture to the 100 things in 100 days gallery if you are interested http://www.motivateme.info/discarding-100-things/
The 100 Day Challenge Program - Days LXXX - LXXI (80 - 71)
Assembling the troops: Get help if needed
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Are you afraid of moving away from what is dear and a comfort to you? Most people do fear the
unknown, after all if is unknown to us, we do not know what to expect of it, or from it. As a result,
because we fear the unknown, the tasks that will take us beyond are also difficult.
Seneca perhaps said it best when he told us that "it is not because things are difficult
that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult"
But how does one overcome this fear?
There is but a simple way. Consider enlisting the assistance of others.
These people have gone before you and cut through to lay the tracks so we may know where to
step. To do so would be wise. To not do so would be a folly. And never fear these same people
would mock your weakness, because they too had to find strength to move ahead. Did they do it
alone? Or did they too seek counsel of those they looked up to? Why then should we feel foolish in
asking for assistance when they themselves know the shortcuts?
Would a battle weary soldier fail to alert his general of the road ahead if he had been sent to scout
it? Would the general not ask those who he knew had come through those lands to advise him of
the terrain and the obstacles to be faced? Or would both ignore the other? If that be the case, then
there could only be 1 outcome.
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Challenges / Action Activities:
We can all be forgiven for not knowing the best way forward. We may indeed feel afraid of
what is to come and what we will have to go through before we reach our goal. Some may
be able to look at fear and use it as a stepping stone to success. Most I feel would be
paralysed and unable to make the leap. But what would happen if there was someone you
could talk to, seek advice and assistance from? Would that make it easier for you?
Every one needs help, and those people who say they dont are usually hiding behind the lies
so they can find all sorts of excuses as to why they cannot do something. The richest, most
powerful people in the world have armies of advisers to help them. Sports people have
coaches and personal trainers to help them improve their game. Why should we be any
different?
Believe me when I say, most of the time you will struggle to do everything you need to do
by yourself. So enlist the people who can take your dreams forward:
An author needs an editor and a publisher. Even if you decide to self-publish your
work, you still need to get someone else to read it to make sure you haven't written
drivel.
You may need encouragement to reach your new weight - in which case a personal
trainer can be invaluable, or a weight loss consultant, a nutritionist, your partner and
your kids can all help you to keep to the straight and narrow and encourage you not
to buy and eat "bad" things.
Who do you need to enlist to help you move forwards with your goals? Make a
commitment to these next 10 days and assemble the group of people you need to help you
move forwards...
However, before you go forwards it is always a good idea to:
Review the last 10 days:
"We should every night call ourselves to an account: what infirmity have I mastered to-day? what
passions opposed? what temptation resisted? what virtue acquired? Our vices will abate of
themselves if they be brought every day to the shrift." Seneca
It is essential to review (go back over) the last 10 days, and if possible the first 20 days of the
challenge. Given that we are now 1/5th of the way through the challenge, and with just 80
days left to go, it is a good idea to make sure that what you said you wanted at the beginning
is still pulling you in the right direction.
If you are procrastinating over these simple daily activities then I believe your overall goal
needs some tweaking. Remember your overall goal(s) should be those items / things you said
you wanted to have achieved by the close of AD 2010. However, I also know that there will
be times when our original "guesstimate" of time may have been wholly incorrect. Now is
the time to pull that time line back into line. Never fall into the trap of saying "I'll do that
tomorrow" - as you know - that is called procrastinating, and we are not procrastinators
anymore, we are challengers, and we are going to succeed.
Remember, the only "rule" of the challenge is to use each single day of the 100 days to focus
your attention on what YOU say YOU want and then to ensure you make the time during
each day to achieve just that:
My challenge for the last 10 days was to try and put the balance back into the work / life
thing, and I do believe I did that. I managed to train well, the food component was good, and
I took a day and an evening out of my insane 10 days to spend time with people I have not
seen in years. In one case, 8 years. You can imagine the work out the jaw got :-) I'm sure.
But the result of the time out meant that I had to be better focused on what was really
important. What could I multi-task? What did I not need to do - NOW, or at all for that
matter.
I have found that by having the list of challenges means I can make those better decisions. I
am not at the whim of everyone else's calendars; I am the mistress of my own.
The 100 Day Challenge Program - Days LXX - LXI (70 61)
Dig Deep Into Thy Reserves: Now is the time to persevere
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Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.
Marcus Aurelius
The weak fall by the wayside, give up and go back
"This is not what I signed up for"
"What did you think it would be like?"
"Well I didn't think we would spend weeks and weeks marching to battle, resting briefly and then
picking up the sword and marching all day, every day. I thought there would be glory and the spoils
of war to enjoy"
"Well what do you think is going to happen when we get to the battle front? Do you honestly think
we are going to walk in and they're just going to give up and hand us their country - without them
putting up a fight? You think the marching is bad soldier, wait til you see the blood flowing."
Are you willing to put in another day's effort to reach your destination?
Are you prepared for what lies ahead on the battle field?
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Challenges / Action Activities:
Perseverance is important.
What you do today impacts on what you can and will achieve tomorrow.
If you have followed the program so far you will know how easy this program can be, so
long as you make sure you work the program every single day. If you miss a day or two, you
will also know how easy it is to stop working the challenge program - we pretend we are
too busy, we say, well I'll start again tomorrow - knowing full well you won't.
The important thing to remember is this - the stronger willed person will pick up the shovel
even when they don't feel like it, and will start digging again:
I talk a lot about baby steps; each day is a baby step. However, each part of each day
contains millions of micro opportunities - do we do the right thing or do we do the
wrong thing. Each micro decision gives us then a completely different set of micro
decisions to make. Are you using the challenge to make the right micro decisions or
have you thrown down the shovel and walked away?
The 100 Day Challenge Program - Days XXX - XXI (30 21)
What you would not have done to yourselves, never do unto others: Be
fair and honest in all your dealings
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What you would not have done to yourselves, never do unto others.
Alexander Severus
Roman Statesman 208-235
You would never lie and cheat to yourself, nor would you stab yourself in the back by speaking ill of
yourself in the company of your fellow men. So why then fellow comrades do you speak ill of your
neighbours - surely it is the same thing? You have proven yourself to be untrustworthy, that you are
willing to undermine your comrades and fellow soldiers - even though you took an oath to honour
the legion. In the heat of battle we need to be able to trust each other - those who are not able to
trust themselves and treat themselves fairly or properly cannot hope to put others needs ahead of
their own.
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Challenges / Action Exercises:
Are you honest with yourself? Really? Can you look at yourself in the mirror and
meet your own eyes? Yes / No
In what ways have you let yourself down over the last 10 days?
Have you done all that you could over the last 10 days, or have there been periods
of doing less than you know you are capable of?
Have you complained about everyone and everything to anyone who will listen?
Have you stuck to your new disciplines or are you pretending to do so? What do I
mean - say you wanted to give up smoking, and you had planned that on this day - 70
days ago) you would have cut down or completely stopped smoking by now. Have
you? What about those clients you said you were going to call and speak to - not to
sell them anything, but to see if there was anything you could do to help them grow
their business - say if you saw a prospect that could benefit them more than they
could have benefited you? Disciplines.
I'm not saying it is easy because it isn't, life can and does get in the way - but we do need
to be honest with ourselves. When we can be honest and above board in our dealings
with ourselves, then we know exactly where we stand and we are more likely to pull
ourselves up by the bootstraps and go again.
Imagine you had been going for a walk every morning, and then you had gotten sick and
one day off had turned to a month, it can be easy to say - Well I've not been feeling very
well and I really don't have the time... it can also be easy to be honest with ourselves and
say, I really must get going again on those walks, so you lay out your clothes the night
before, set the alarm clock for your walking time and then get up and get going when
the alarm goes off.
Being honest with yourself - that is one of the major keys to success
Treating others as you would treat yourself is another.
Have a couple of days off, reward yourself for a job well done, but then dive straight back in
- use your momentum to keep going, pushing forwards - because if you're not careful the
weeds will take over the garden - and we don't want that.
The 100 Day Challenge Program: Victory is ours - End of the program
Battles will always need to be fought: Just when you think you have
finished...along comes another challenge
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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity
Seneca
Victorious centurions you have succeeded where weaker men have failed. You have fought bravely
day after day and this battle is now over.
Behold your triumph
but beware your complacency.
As we march onwards through life other battles may loom which we will need to fight, old enemies
may reappear, so we must stay alert and to always be prepared.
I ask you to rest briefly because you deserve the rest and the triumph. But I demand that you
continue honing of your crafts and skills of fitness and preparation. Our future depends on this.
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Congratulations, you have made it. You should be very proud of yourselves and your
achievements.
I hope you continue to use the challenge to push yourselves though your next set of
challenges, because there will always be challenges - but by taking them one day at a time,
you can achieve many great and wondrous things.