100 Day Challenge

The Program - 2010

Elle G Raunston

MOTIVATE ME!

THE 100 DAY CHALLENGE PROGRAM (I) FRIENDS, READERS & CHALLENGERS LEND ME YOUR EAR .......................................................... 3 Introduction to the program: ................................................................................3 THE 100 DAY CHALLENGE PROGRAM - DAYS C XCI (100 91) ............ 5 THE 100 DAY CHALLENGE PROGRAM DAYS: XC - LXXXI (90 81).......... 8 THE 100 DAY CHALLENGE PROGRAM - DAYS LXXX - LXXI (80 - 71) ....... 9 THE 100 DAY CHALLENGE PROGRAM - DAYS LXX - LXI (70 61) ......... 12 100 DAY CHALLENGE PROGRAM - DAYS LX - LI (60 51) ...................... 13 100 DAY CHALLENGE DAYS L XLI (50 41)............................................ 14 THE 100 DAYS CHALLENGE - DAYS XL - XXXI (40 31) .......................... 15 THE 100 DAY CHALLENGE PROGRAM - DAYS XXX - XXI (30 21)......... 16 THE 100 DAY CHALLENGE PROGRAM: DAYS XX - XI (20 11)............... 17 THE 100 DAY CHALLENGE PROGRAM: DAYS X - I (10 1) ..................... 20 THE 100 DAY CHALLENGE PROGRAM: VICTORY IS OURS - END OF THE PROGRAM ..................................................................................................... 22 REMINDER: WHAT HAVE WE COVERED DURING THE 100 DAY CHALLENGE? ................................................................................................ 23 ELLE'S 100 DAY CHALLENGES: .................................................................. 24

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". ************************ 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 ************************ 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.

So my first challenge to you is this:

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. ************************ 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

The 100 Day Challenge Program - Days C XCI (100 91) Preparing for Battle: Preparation prevents procrastination
******************************* Can you imagine what would have happened if the architects who designed Rome had said to the builders "Just chuck a few walls up over there lads, then we'll tart up the exterior with a few columns, if we add a few statues of Caesar in the corner, it'll look great" Can you imagine what the buildings would have looked like; something tells me they wouldn't have looked like they did! But what about the many battles, wars and campaigns undertaken by the Romans. I'm sure they didn't get up one morning, put on their armour and just decide to invade a neighbouring country. "Which country are you planning on invading sire?" "Oh I don't know. Tell you what we'll have a go at all of them man, one of them is bound to surrender" "Excuse me general and if you don't think this too pertinent a question - but could you tell us again, why we should do such a thing?" "Because it's there of course" When it comes to goal setting though, that is precisely how most of what we might consider to be "goal setting" actually takes place. If we're lucky we might sit down and scribble a few things down on paper, but more often than not our goals are mere thoughts that flit in and out of our daily lives. "These pants are getting a bit tight, I should drop a few pounds" "I'd better save a few quid, Christmas is coming up" The trouble with those kinds of thoughts of course is that as soon as theyve popped into our minds, our mind is usually coming up with the next random thought. Is it any wonder we have trouble with goal setting and even more importantly - goal achievement? This is exactly why the 100 day challenge was created. Q: If you made absolutely no changes to your current schedule, would you be able to work on the goals you say you are going to work on? A: Unless you currently do little or nothing each day (which I doubt) I would have to say the answer would probably be no. So... How can the 100 day challenge help you? The key to the 100 day challenge is to know where you want to be at the end of 100 days, and then manipulate your schedule on a day-by-day basis so you achieve that end target. Sounds too simple? Well it isnt - let me give you an example.

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: XC - LXXXI (90 81) Assessing your initial forays: Review your plan and make changes where necessary
******************************* "The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity" so said Seneca. Now that the first "X" days of your campaign are over, you will have discovered many things about yourself. You may well have received some major successes - which will have buoyed you. But I fear some may have suffered from self doubt and maybe failure during this time. Understand this is to be expected at the beginning of a new campaign. Remember the key to the challenge lies not just in thinking about what will happen at the end of the 100 day challenge, be aware of the whole - yes, because it is essential to know the ultimate goal, but to take each single day and use it wisely. Carpe diem "Rejoice while you are alive, enjoy the day, live life to the fullest, make the most of what you have, it is later than you think" We have but XC days left to end of AD 2010 it is time to assess your initial forays. ******************************* Challenges / Action Activities: 1. Review your first 10 days. Jim Rohn called this process "re-winding the tapes" and I would recommend that today you play back the last 10 days (the first 10 days of the challenge). You should have made a note of each day's activities, either in your workbook, diary or notebook. Remember if you write it down you don't have to trust your memory. What worked for you? What didn't work? What changes will you need to make so this next 10 days will allow you to move forwards faster/ more easily?

2. Change your schedule where necessary. What do you need to do more off? What do you need to do less off?

The 100 Day Challenge Program - Days LXXX - LXXI (80 - 71) Assembling the troops: Get help if needed
******************************* 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. ******************************* 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. Have you "fallen" over at any point? Do you know why?

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: Today I am going to read my book Today I am going to write a chapter of my book Today I am going to call the small business development corporation about how to set up my small business Today I am going to organize my paperwork for the tax man Today I am going to run 2 miles Today I am going to call my mentor / coach and set up a meeting Today I am going to find someone in my network of people who I can talk to about ... Today I am going to invest in some personal training to help me get healthy, fit and toned Today I am going to ... What are you going to do today?

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
******************************* 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? ******************************* 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: Exercising when you don't feel like it. Cooking and eating a healthy dinner when it's so much easier to get takeaway. Picking up the telephone and making the difficult sales call Writing one more page Saving one more dollar

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?

100 day challenge Program - Days LX - LI (60 51) Conquer thine enemies: Breaking bad habits
******************************* "This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections" St Augustine Armies are structured so each member of the unit has his own duty to perform. You have been given your orders. You will learn these duties quickly and you will perform them - perfectly - every time. If you fail to learn and perform your duties you risk the lives of not only yourselves, but those of your fellow soldiers. You will cultivate these good habits, and together we will conquer thine own enemies of sloth and greed. Together this army will conquer the enemies of our great country. ******************************** Challenges / Action Exercises: Habits, if there is one thing I can guarantee it is this - we all have habits. Some of course are great to have, without habitual behaviour we would forget to clean our teeth and have a shower. Can you imagine not remembering how to drive your car when you got to it every day? Then there are the habits we try and cultivate. I must go to the gym, I must eat better today, I must work on my book / project, I must call my old clients and see what I can do to help them grow their business. And then there are the habits we wish we could get rid of. I should stop smoking / drinking / wasting time / being lazy. These last 2 groups of habitual behaviours are the ones holding us back from everything we say we want to achieve / do / see. Without the habit of eating well we may carry excess weight around, we may be causing ourselves health issues down the track. In the same vein a lack of exercise means our muscles lack tone / shape and our clothes tend to look pulled or strained. Whilst we can go for the baggy, cover everything up look - be honest, you know it doesn't really work - and if you want to test my observation - go to any cafe or supermarket and observe. What habits do you need to cultivate? The point of the 100 day challenge as you know is to cultivate the habit of working on our goals on a daily basis. Are you setting the patterns and behaviours into your daily schedule so this does become a habit?

100 Day Challenge Days L XLI (50 41) Re-drawing your battle lines: Watch your rear
******************************* "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity" Seneca Successful armies are constantly re-viewing their battle plans and battle lines. Where do the ranks need tightening and where is the best place to attack next and where from. One of the most often neglected areas is the rear of the formation. It is all well and good to know what is coming up, but if your rear-guard is slipping, then the entire army will fail. "Sire should we send a scout to see that no-one has infiltrated our ranks" "And how would they do that, pray tell??" "Well Sire, as you know the ranks are only as good as its weakest man" "True - And the weak must therefore fall behind" "Yes Sire" "I command you to pick ten of your strongest men and to check on the rear guard. WE MUST NOT BE OVER TAKEN BECAUSE OF THE WEAK AND FOOLISH" ****************************** Challenges / Action Exercises: We are moving into the second half of the challenge. Your daily patterns should be set as should your weekly ones. However, we too can fail if we let our guard slip. Do you feel pressured by others? Are you being asked to do more for them so you are unable to work on your own challenges? Did you set out to do too much in the beginning and feel unable to carry on at the same pace? Did you set your goals too far in the distance and now feel you will fail because of it? Are you feeling discouraged because the early successes are not being repeated? As we have reached the half way point it is vital that you do re-draw your battle lines this week. Go back to the beginning of the challenge. What did you say you wanted to have achieved by the end of 100 days. Are you 50% of the way there? How far off the 50% are you?

Or are you at the other end of the spectrum? Did you set your goals too low? Have you already achieved whatever it is you said you wanted to achieve? What can you do now to move on to the next set of plans you have?

The 100 Days Challenge - Days XL - XXXI (40 31) Celebrate thy victories
******************************* "Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking" Marcus Aurelius Centurions you have fought well these last 10 days of our personal campaign. You have succeeded where weaker men may have failed. You dug deep into thy reserves and persevered even when you thought it foolhardy to do so. You have now learnt it was not foolhardy because you are all victors. You can stand tall and proud with the rest of this victorious legion for together you have become a formidable opponent to those who may try and thwart your resolve in future. Today you may bask in the glory and the knowledge that you have won this day. BUT Be complacent not, for tonight our enemies while they may be on the back foot, retreating, they will re-group and they will attempt to infiltrate the ranks again. IT IS UP TO EACH ONE OF US TO ENSURE THAT CANNOT HAPPEN, we will not allow our enemies to lay us to waste. So, tonight - rest, recover because tomorrow we move on. ****************************** Challenges / Action Exercises: Do you stop to acknowledge and celebrate your victories? Have you gotten to the end of a single day and told yourself that was amazing, well done you! Why not? You'd say all that and more if it were someone else who had impressed you. So why are we so bad at patting ourselves on the back for a job well done? Don't we think we deserve it? It is vital to celebrate the wins and essential that we blow our own trumpets just a little when we know we have done an amazing job. Stop, reflect on what worked well, why did it work so well and how can you capitalise on that knowledge in the future? So, looking back over the first 60 days of the challenge so far - what have been your successes? Where have you won a battle or two? You will have some victories to share I'm sure. Celebrate each and every one of them, you deserve to.

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
****************************** 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. ****************************** 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.

The 100 Day Challenge Program: Days XX - XI (20 11) Have Courage for the end of our campaign draws close: Do not be afraid of what lies ahead
****************************** "It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live" Marcus Aurelius Only by facing our greatest fears can we be victorious. Did David cower at the thought of Goliath? Did Alexander doubt his ability to conquer the known world? Have you not stared down your many enemies during these battles and defeated them? So then, what are your fears now? Surely you can have no fear left because you have faced death many times and you have been victorious. Why then do you shake your heads? Fear of the unknown? You have faced the unknown many times and did you falter? Did you stand weak kneed before fleeing from the enemy? YOU DID NOT And do you know why? It is because at my command you will obey. Because you are strong of mind, strong of will and strong of body and I am proud to command you. ****************************** Challenges / Action Exercises: Do you suffer from fear and doubt? If you do, you are not alone. But what are you afraid of? It is interesting to note that most people will admit to having a phobia Im afraid of heights; I really dislike snakes; I dont like speaking in public, but will not admit that they delay doing things because they are afraid of either doing the task, or what will happen when they do. But fear keeps up doing the same things over and over again. We repeat patterns of behaviour, because we are afraid of what will happen if we dont. Repeated patterns of behaviour means we react in exactly the same way to the same kind of stimuli. Are you afraid of failure? Those people who are afraid of failure are those people who rarely try anything new. If they dont start a project they cant fail can they? Are you afraid of success? Those people who are afraid of success are likely to sabotage their own efforts, or allow their efforts to be sabotaged. Or they give up half way through. How many people have been on a diet? How many times have people said to you oh go on, its only a small piece! and you have been persuaded to take something that you didnt want.

Are you afraid of change? The reason why a lot of people fear success is because it usually means considerable change, and not just for you. And the ones that fear the changes the most are those people who profess to love and care for us: What are you doing that for? I like you just the way you are. You see, fear based comments do not have to be an outright attack, sometimes subtle comments repeated often enough are all it takes for someone to stop you right in your tracks. The point is they dont want you to change, they are happy with the status quo. They fear that they will lose their hold over you and their place in their version of the perceived hierarchy. Yes they fear you, and the power that positive change will have over you. So they will do everything in their power to sabotage your efforts. Of course they may not do this deliberately; a lot of what we say and do is habitual. But this is also important for you too. Trying to make too many changes all at once can be overwhelming and it becomes easy to slip back into the old way of doing things. Then those people who have been telling you all along that you are no good will now be able to say I told you so. You are hopeless, you can never finish anything. They will move from being fearful to dominant and you may find it extremely difficult to start all over again. Because you may feel that you have failed. If you encounter this kind of behaviour on a daily basis and loved ones are prime candidates. You may have even unknowingly done this yourself. You should avoid telling them your grand plans. Remember the importance of the daily plans and changes. Making small but subtle changes means they will not shocked by the new you. Imagine that every day you are given a blank canvas on which to work. Most people haul out the same one, and re-paint the same lines. It's easier you see. They may change one or two colours - but day after day, they paint the same picture. Can you imagine getting to the end of your life and having to walk down a corridor with your daily paintings hanging on the walls? How scary would it be to see the same thing? Row upon row of the same picture, an endless stream of monotony, interspersed occasionally with the odd picture that stands out, a day that was special in some way. You pause for a moment, to reflect, but then as you return to the walk down the corridor the paintings return to the same themes over and over again. You try to go back to the special picture you saw earlier, but its no longer there, just like a day that has been wasted. Once the time has been spent you cannot get it back again. So you are forced to keep walking, past pictures that all look the same. Now imagine what it would be like to walk down a corridor where the walls are lined with vibrancy. You would walk quickly towards the next one, to see what new and exciting things you had done. You would smile, you would frown, and you would remember the happy times, the sad times, and the days of pure bliss. Each day the painting is filled with something different. The question is what would your paintings look like? Would they be filled with the same kinds of images day after day, or would your pictures be filled with lots of different things and memories?

Isnt it time you painted a different picture every day? Are you afraid of truly living? The final fear that most people have to suffer is that of truly living. We are afraid to take chances, usually because of what we feel other people might say and think about us, so we run around in ever decreasing circles, trying to make everyone around us happy, whilst at the same time, never making any time to find out what we ourselves truly want, or want to achieve. Of course there will be people that we all know who always put themselves before anyone and everyone else. That is not the kind of person I am advocating that we become. In order for us to really start to live the lives we were meant to live, we have to embrace change, we have to want to live each and every moment that has been allotted to us and in order to do this, we need to choose success over the failure of not trying. We need to choose success over the traditional thinking that says, Ill do it tomorrow. We need to choose success over the habits that have held us back. We need to choose to truly live and not mere existence. What would you do if you knew you could never fail? And would it really matter if you did? As we move into the last 20 days of this challenge, I would like you to ask yourself what would happen if you said YES to every opportunity instead of NO - what difference do you think that would make to your life?

The 100 Day Challenge Program: Days X - I (10 1) Where there is unity there is always victory: Don't let yourself or others down now
****************************** "Where there is unity there is always victory. Publilius Syrus Centurions, the end of the campaign draws ever closer. We can give up now, or we can march on to victory. Do you want to enter our great city as the champions and the victors of our greatest battle ever, or are you content to go back having almost reached our goal of being the best we can be.? Do not hang your heads. You have worked and fought hard. You have protected yourselves and your fellow centurions and all that is needed is one final push. Are you willing to commit to this one final push towards victory? ****************************** Challenges / Action Exercises: Can you believe we only have 10 days left to the end of the year... and of course our first 100 day challenge comes to an end. Now you can continue to use the next 10 days to further your personal goals or you may decide not to. The next 10 days will pass whether you work on yourself or your goals or not. And yes I know Christmas and New Year are going to get in the way. But even so... now is perhaps a good time to hide in a corner away from the food and start the next set of planning :-) One of the keys as I keep pointing out to you (and I am sorry for being a bit of a broken record on this) is this - we can all be faked out by being busy. We can all be "busy doing something" but those "some things" may not get us to our goals. Usually because our plans are not in place, our drive and our passions are not aligned and our personal "battles" never get won. Most people don't do well, because they are usually busy doing nothing very much. Or more to the point, they think they are busy and productive, when in reality all they are is busy and don't mind telling anyone who listens. Those with plans in place usually don't have time to discuss generalities they are too busy working on their goals to do so. And in doing so they find ways to practice and hone their skills and abilities, finding ways to better prepare for whatever else lies ahead. As we do count down the last couple of days, now is not the time to give up and say I'll do that again on January 1st. Sticking to your new habits is vital during this time - and believe me when I say that if you can make even small steps now, during what can be deemed to be the busiest, scariest and often silliest time of the year, then we can get anything done. During the next 10 days I would urge you to take a good look at the way you used the program during the last 90 days. Where can you tighten up your habits? What can you do to make the program work even better for you when you start again. Yes I did say start again why lose the momentum you've gained?

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
****************************** 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. ****************************** 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.

Reminder: What have we covered during the 100 day challenge?

100 - 91: Preparing for battle - What challenges were you hoping to complete during the 100 days. Are you still on track? What changes have you made? Why? 90 - 81: Assessing your initial forays - Review your plan and your daily activities and make adjustments where necessary. Did you tweak your plan, is it working better now? What else do you need to do? 80 - 71: Assembling the troops - Get help when and if needed. Remember you cannot do everything by yourself, so don't attempt to. And don't be afraid of asking for help either. OK, some services we may have to pay for, coaches / trainers / teachers and so on, and as we all know, if we pay for something we are more likely to value the service we receive more than if we got it for free. 70 - 61: Dig deep into thy reserves - Now is the time to persevere. Are you willing to keep pushing on, to keep trying? Only the strong are likely to survive the battles that lie ahead. 60 - 51: Conquering thine enemies - Defeating your habits. Only by defeating your bad habits can you create the space for the good habits we need to cultivate. Are you creating the space and the habit of creating good habits? 50 - 41: Re-drawing your battle lines - Watch your rear. It is important to constantly check six, make sure you are not falling over your goals by default. It can be easy to do, but now is the time to ensure you are going in the right direction. 40 - 31: Celebrate thy victories - Review, reflect - It is vital to celebrate the wins and essential that we blow our own trumpets just a little when we know we have done an amazing job. Stop, reflect on what worked well, why did it work so well and how can you capitalize on that knowledge in the future? 30 - 21: What you would not have done to yourselves, never do unto others - Be fair and honest in all your dealings especially when it comes to being honest with yourself. 20 - 11: Have courage for the end of the campaign draws close - You have faced so many obstacles over the last 80 days, but you are here, and you are stronger. Now you know you have the strength and the courage to tackle anything and everything you set your mind too. 10 - 1: Continue to push hard, don't give up now - we are so close to the end of the challenge we may be tempted to slack off and tell ourselves we will start again in the new year. Don't be tempted to fall back into old habits, because if we are not careful they will creep back into our lives. Be vigilant during this time.

Elle's 100 day challenges:

I started this 100 day challenge hoping for some radical changes. Of those challenges, I have had some successes and some not so successful outcomes - illness and personal challenges did get to me during the last 100 days of the year. But I have pushed through and have created the stepping stones to a much better 2011. I have re-set my challenges and I will continue to post the odd blog or two just so you can see if I am still working hard... http://www.motivateme.info/100-days-challenge/ Discarding 100 things in 100 days - http://www.motivateme.info/discarding-100-things/ Yes there really are 100 things in the gallery and the last 2 items are amazing...