Inspire my monthly challenges

January 2, 2019 7:00 AM

I want to do a different challenge for each month of 2019. I have 4 picked and am looking to your lovely minds for inspiration for the other 8 months.

The 4 I have planned are:
Daily yoga in January
Frugal February
Vegetarian month
Social media detox month

I'm very open minded on scope and topic. Motivate me MeFites!

posted by roolya_boolya to Grab Bag (27 answers total)

i keep wanting to do whole 30
posted by noloveforned at 7:08 AM on January 2, 2019

* There are a number of bloggers/Instagramers that do photo-of-the-day, blog-post-of-the-day, or other similar challenges for a given month; they post a list of random prompt words, one for each day of the month, and you're meant to take a photo/write a blog post/paint a picture/whatever in response to that word and post it. You can probably find a ton by going to Pinterest and searching for the term "monthly photo challenge" or something.

* How many cookbooks do you have - and how many recipes out of each one have you actually tried?....if you're like me, your answers are probably "a lot" and "not a lot". Maybe a month where you try a new-to-you recipe out of one of your cookbooks each day.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:08 AM on January 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

Depending on your current activity levels - total steps, or miles ran? (my garmin tracks intensity minutes based on heart rate zones so you could use that or similar instead to go across different exercise types)
posted by JonB at 7:10 AM on January 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

Hm, it sounds like you want to generally improve your health and mental wellbeing. That's good! Here's a few month ideas:

Classic Literature, read a few old classics (or just one, they can be quite long!)
Tidying/de-cluttering/donating
Volunteer
Museum/Art Galleries (visit one a weekend)
Penpals
If you like movies, one of my goals is to watch all the films from a classic director. I've chosen Kurosawa.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 7:11 AM on January 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

A writing or art exercise a day for a month?

Set a word count for writing - 500 seems like it would be reachable. Or if you draw, one sketchbook page a day.

Also: as a goal for the whole year, consider reading only books by women. I have sort of unconsciously drifted in this direction over the last few years, and it's great.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:12 AM on January 2, 2019

Also, I once did a weight loss month when I had a surplus 5kg to lose - restricted calories and a morning weigh in each day with a graph to ensure I remained on track.
posted by JonB at 7:12 AM on January 2, 2019

A month in which you declutter one item from your house every day? Or follow the daily cleaning routines from Fly Lady or Unfuck Your Habitat?
Send a greeting card / letter every day?
Daily photoblog?
posted by jacquilynne at 7:13 AM on January 2, 2019 [3 favorites]

You could try the No Spend Month. Make do with what you have other than rent, groceries, and gas. No eating out, no shopping, no entertainment expenses.
posted by TooFewShoes at 7:13 AM on January 2, 2019 [2 favorites]

I like greeting/card letter a day. Someone I know did a thank you note a day, and wrote a lot of fan letters, letters to old teachers, etc. Not necessarily long, just a few lines saying what they were grateful for.
posted by gideonfrog at 7:20 AM on January 2, 2019 [4 favorites]

Sober October, if you normally drink alcohol.
posted by aka burlap at 7:40 AM on January 2, 2019 [3 favorites]

Deep clean a different room/part of your house every weekend for a month? Or every week, one smaller area a day, etc depending on your living situation.
posted by MadamM at 7:40 AM on January 2, 2019 [2 favorites]

Get out of bed when your alarm clock goes off!
posted by kate blank at 7:51 AM on January 2, 2019

Take a different route to work every workday for a month.
Try to memorize a poem a day for 30 days.
NaNoWriMo is a pretty great challenge for November - a ton of folks are already doing it so you have built-in meet-ups and encouragement.
Eat a traditional food from a different country every day.
Pick up trash. Try to fill a shopping bag every day.
Try to pet a different dog every single day.
Interview a different family member or community member every day - you could choose a specific set of questions to ask about. At the end of the month produce a zine or a short film that documents their answers.
Set up a still life with flowers and fruit. Document/photograph/paint it every day as it withers and rots.
Set a challenge to earn extra money and spend a month trying a new side gig to see if you can make a go of it.
posted by DSime at 8:09 AM on January 2, 2019

one doodle every day! (possibly combine this with posting to social media - IME, friends LOVE seeing art on their timelines, and can help with accountability)
posted by seemoorglass at 8:16 AM on January 2, 2019

Inktober: "Every October, artists all over the world take on the Inktober drawing challenge by doing one ink drawing a day the entire month."
posted by ITheCosmos at 8:17 AM on January 2, 2019 [3 favorites]

I have one on my list for this year so far. It is to learn the rules of chess and attempt to play.

I have a friend who does Adventure September every year. It generally involves weekend trips, but obviously would be easy to tailor to your interests.
posted by vignettist at 8:27 AM on January 2, 2019

Thought of a couple more:

Call and catch up with a friend or a relative every day.
Spend a month planning a fun trip and at the end of the month, go on the trip! You could set certain constraints, like 'must cost less than €200' or 'must involve a destination where I can go swimming'.
Home improvement month - every day, tackle one job around the house/flat to fix something that bothers you or to upgrade your space. Finally hang that painting!

Gosh, I actually love some of the suggestions in this thread and now I want to do this also!
posted by DSime at 8:34 AM on January 2, 2019

Walk farther every day, even if just in an intentional after-dinner walk, and if it's just one house farther before you turn back.

If you don't watch "The Good Place", watch a single episode each day and come join us in FanFare.
posted by Etrigan at 8:41 AM on January 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

We did the Simple Green Smoothies green smoothie challenge a few years ago and it was delicious and good for us. It used to run a couple times a year, not sure about now, but you could also do it yourself any month - just make and drink a green smoothie a day.
posted by bananacabana at 8:55 AM on January 2, 2019

Love yourself every day. That would mean spending a little bit of time every day for whatever period to write down one thing you like about yourself, say. It’s a challenge because you also have to learn to stop talking to yourself in a harsh, mean, or nasty way, if you happen to do so, but rather speak to yourself in a loving and patient way, the way you would speak to a friend or loved one if they had screwed up instead of you.

There isn’t any official love-yourself month as far as I know but there are all lot of blogs and articles about learning to love yourself that could probably give you ideas about exercises if you wanted to do this. And if it’s love-yourself month, then of course you would want to give yourself small rewards or treats from time to time just to acknowledge how fabulous you are.

I think the world would be a better place if we also have learned to love ourselves and I think it’s a major challenge for some of us, it certainly is for me even now after working on it for a while. There are lots of good ideas here, thank you for asking OP! Please don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t meet all of the challenges you chose in exactly the way you plan. Good luck!
posted by Bella Donna at 9:29 AM on January 2, 2019

Based on what you've listed, you might try Tech Sabbaths (once a week) for a month
posted by Mchelly at 11:21 AM on January 2, 2019

Food adventure - try a new restaurant once a month, or cook a new type of cuisine once a month.
posted by Enid Lareg at 11:45 AM on January 2, 2019

I would vote for purging an item (or 10, or however many is ambitious for you) every day for a month, and also to do mindfulness exercises every day for a month. There are some good apps that make it very accessible (Headspace, Insight Timer, etc.)
posted by reksb at 12:37 PM on January 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

Memorize some poems.
Learn some songs, esp. If you play an instrument.
Read a book a week.
Community month - pick up litter, clean and plant an area, attend city council meeting, meet your city councillor.
Car-free - as much as possible.
Volunteer - library, church, etc.
posted by theora55 at 12:51 PM on January 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

Meditate!
Clean 1 shelf/drawer (kitchen, bathroom, linen closet etc.)
Watch 1TED talk
posted by BoscosMom at 3:14 PM on January 2, 2019

Here is a link to a list of 30 day challenges

Have an orgasm a day for a month.

Here is another list of thirty day challenges.

Create a work of body art each day with temporary tattoo pens.

Collect thirty items:

Every day you could get a penguin of some type, searching toy stores and printing out pictures or crafting them of different materials. Instead of a penguin maybe you would prefer a dragon or a teddy bear or an antique weapon, or chocolate.

Or every day you could buy, make or re-purpose an item to furnish a dolls house - Start with a cardboard box open at the front and a small doll. One day make a table from a pizza box lid support. The next day add plates made from bottle tops. The day after make a bed from a medicine bottle box. The day after cut a blanket from a piece of clothing you are discarding. The next day pick up a kitchen sponge from the dollar store and cut it to make a mattress for the bed, etc.

Your collection could be given away at the end of the month and collected with that idea in mind so you don't end up with clutter. Someone might love to get thirty different small chocolate items, or that little dolls house that they don't have to keep in good condition because it is just-for-fun today, not for keeping.

Post a hilarious meme every day on your facebook. Or a quote that means something to you. Or a new word a day. Or a take a photograph each day. If you don't do facebook find a buddy and e-mail your meme/quote/vocabulary acquisition/startling new fact to that friend.

Every day find something you've never noticed the smell of before. Most people don't use their sense of smell or register it. So wander through your ordinary day and take note of a different distinct smell you encounter, especially one that is specific to a location. Do you know what the lobby of your building smells like? Your car floor mats? The tropical plants in the corner of the office? The mall outside of the pizza restaurant? Your neighbour's dog?

Learn HTML, one item each day.

Draw a tarot card a day, or print one out or pick one from a pack and derive meaning from it, and direction for your day.

Try a new food every day.

Go on a nostalgia trip and revisit your childhood. Every day in the month revisit something you have not done since you got out of middle school. Eat the same cereal - Alphabits??, read a kid's book you loved, or re-watch an episode of the show you used to follow, use Google maps street view to visit your old neighbourhood, play one of the games you used to play, get in touch with a family member and reminiscence about that time, play a song from that era, look at an elementary school lesson in geometry and measure angles with a protractor, etc.

Send a postcard every day.

Come up with a joke every day and tell it to someone or mail it to someone.

Do one thing to combat the far right each day.

Wear a hair shirt or some similar item each day to either help you develop mindfulness or help you learn to ignore discomfort.

Every day explore the idea that you will someday die, and that everything will end. Look at momento mori. Calculate how many more days you probably have to live. Create a bucket list. learn about the deaths of your forerunners, your grandparents and great aunts and uncles. Plan your funeral, read a poem about death. etc.

Every day at sunset light a fire.
posted by Jane the Brown at 11:27 AM on January 3, 2019 [3 favorites]

The website drawabox teaches sketching.

You'd need a specific $4 pen (0.5mm fineliner) and some unlined paper, plus a good amount of time, and would be significantly better at drawing things in black and white when you were done.
posted by talldean at 12:42 PM on January 3, 2019 [1 favorite]