So, I wanted to give an update on my 90-Day Devotion Challenge. I started it on November 8, 2010 and it will officially be over on February 5, 2011. (Check out my post Step Up Your Game for the New Year to find out more.)
I must say, I am quite proud of myself. The goal of this challenge was to establish a daily spiritual practice, and I can honestly say I have done that! But let me tell you, it has not been without struggle. Some days I had to MAKE myself do it, even though I was kicking and screaming on the inside. Other days, I lost the fight and just didn’t do it. Yes, I’m admitting that some days I failed.
The beauty of this challenge is that it kept me attached to something. Before I would just say to myself that I wanted to accomplish some goal and I would commence to trying to stick to it everyday. I never got past 2 to 3 weeks of constantly doing anything. Commitment was a huge struggle for me. It was like I was trying to find my way through a maze in the dark. No direction, no guidance, just lost. So I would get discouraged, give up, and just go back to the beginning of another crazy maze because that’s all I knew how to do. Creating my 90-day challenge gave me a rope to hold on to that guided me through the maze. If I slipped off, it was only temporary because I had this rope to constantly grab onto when I needed it. Knowing that I was on this challenge gave me a since of security that I could always get back up and keep moving forward to success.
This was a huge accomplishment for me, simply committing to myself. I am proud to say that I have finally gotten over the hump of “trying” to meditate everyday and have been able to make it into a necessary daily spiritual practice that will continue long after February 5th. I’ve even added affirmative prayers to my meditation time, so it’s truly serving me well from the inside out and making me stronger every single day. I love it! It literally took me over a year to accomplish this one thing so….
TO ME!!
Tips on how to turn your goals into a challenge that will yield success:
- Attach a time period to your challenge, ex: 30-Day, 60-Day, 90-Day Challenge, etc.
- Write down exactly what you plan to do to accomplish your goal.
- Start off with baby steps, allow yourself to grow during the challenge (I started off only committing to 20 minutes of meditation everyday, now after adding in my affirmative prayers, I meditate and pray for an hour.)
- Share with at least 1 – 2 people what you plan to do in writing. They can be your accountability partners when you start to feel weak. You always need outside forms of inspiration to keep you motivated.
- Keep a calendar or dated journal so you can watch your progress.
- Stay positive – You can do it! (Trust me, if I can do it, anyone can. Give yourself enough time in the challenge to be able to fail a couple of times and still have room for success.)
I will leave you with a quote that resonated with me from Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love” when she was describing her own reason for her pursuit of happiness, “…when you sense a faint potentiality for happiness after such dark times you must grab onto the ankles of that happiness and not let go until it drags you face-first out of the dirt – this is not selfishness, but obligation. You were given life, it is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight.”
I knew that meditating everyday would bring me the inner peace and happiness I desperately wanted. It got the point of, “How bad do you want it?” So I grabbed onto the ankles of meditation and did not let go until it dragged me face-first out of the dirt.
Share your thoughts in the comments: What goals do you have lined up for yourself that you know will bring even an inkling more happiness into your life? How bad do you want it?
**Info on my latest challenge coming soon…
Peace, Love & Challenge,
~Alexis~
Now that’s what I call progress! Love it!