NYNL Day 31: The Final Challenge

Day 31 Mini-Challenge:

CELEBRATE AND RELAX! 

Remember yesterday when I said to celebrate every accomplishment, no matter how small? Yes, finishing a series of Mini-Challenges totally counts! Hopefully, through this series, you have been able to narrow down and clearly define your plan(s) for the future. I hope that you have been able to create an effective system for making it happen and have felt motivated that you can do it!

If there was anything that was unclear for you, if you have questions, or just want to share your goals (but remember, not too much!) then feel free to do it in the comments or to send me an e-mail (or a Facebook message or a Tumblr message or a tweet). 

I love y�all for reading this. 

- - -

Thank You:

If you read this series from beginning to end, THANK YOU! If you read this series from day 30 to today, THANK YOU! If you are visiting this website and are reading about NYNL for the very first time, THANK YOU! 

Y�all are awesome and amazing and wonderful and you totally make my day! :) 

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NYNL Day 30: Celebrate Your Accomplishments

Welcome to Day 30! 

Mini-Challenge: Celebrate Your Accomplishments!

Even the little ones. Even the seemingly unimportant ones. And especially the big ones!

Over the past 30 days, we have taken our big picture goal and broken it down into a million little pieces. Now, each one of those little pieces is it's own little challenge. And each one deserves to be celebrated because it's leading you to the big goal! 

So, go out for Margaritas after Finals! Take a trip after finishing that big project at work! Get a manicure after running that race! 

Celebrate yourself and all of the great, wonderful, awesome things that you do! :) 

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NYNL Day 29: Be Careful Who You Tell

Shhhh�

Today is all about secrets. Or, at least, not broadcasting all of your life information to everyone you know. And no, I�m not talking about posting Facebook statuses about what you had for breakfast (but� you know� please don�t do that either). 

I�m talking about this: 

Telling someone your Identity Goals makes you less likely to achieve them.

Which goals are Identity Goals? The ones that are personal. The ones that will change you a little bit as a person once they are completed.

The biggest one that comes to mind is when (at the beginning of the year, every single year) people start announcing via social media: I have decided to stop smoking! Everyone (me, included) responds with things like good job! and I�m so proud of you! 

And unfortunately, a few weeks later� the goal is abandoned. 

Why does that happen? 

Check out this 3:16 minute TED Talk by Derek Sivers:

Keep Your Goals to Yourself

Now, does this apply to all goals? No. What if you�re trying to start your own business? Obviously, you�ll need investors, support, etc. 

But here is the dangerous thing that we�re trying to avoid:

Telling others your goal makes it a Social Reality.

The satisfaction that you get from simply announcing the goal(s) takes away your motivation to actually WORK towards it. This is because, when it�s acknowledged by others, it feels real in your mind. 

So, carefully select your audience. Try to only announce goals and life plans to the people who will actually play a part in helping you achieve them.

And let the rest of the world be surprised by all of the awesome things that you do! :)

Sources:

Shut Up! Announcing Your Plans Makes You Less Motivated to Accomplish Them

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NYNL Day 28: Taking Action Checklist

It�s Checklist Day (which is sort of my favorite day)! YAY! 

So, this week has been all about taking all of that goal writing and planning and finally putting it into action! If you missed a day (or 7), no big deal� here is everything that you missed :) 

Designate a Weekly Goal

Just look at this week and choose one valuable, yet doable, goal to accomplish!

Make a To-Do List

Think about the tasks that are needed to accomplish the weekly goal� and make them into a to-do list!

Take Action!

Now that you have that handy dandy to-do list, go and DO some things on it! 

Write Down Your Routines

As you go through each day (working on your to-do list), simply write down your current routines!

Modify Your Daily Routines

Look for ways to rearrange your daily schedule that will create more time for working on goals!

Track Your Progress

Write down what you accomplished from your to-do list everyday� even if it�s nothing! 

I am so incredibly happy and excited that we have completed 4 WEEKS of goal setting, so far! 

Way to go! :)

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NYNL Day 27: Track Your Progress

Are you still taking action? Great! Still working on your routines? Excellent! 

You�ll need those for today�s Mini Challenge: 

Write down what you accomplished. 

Starting today, we are going to begin to write down what we did to further our progress towards our goals. Every. Day. 

If the goal was to make all A�s this semester, then the to-do list for the week probably looks something like this:

Introductory Activity

Read Chapter 1

Read Chapter 2

Work on Paper

The problem with a to-do list is that many of us make it and then forget about it. We don�t come back until we�re finished with something.

But what if one item took a lot longer than you expected? And now you can�t cross it off your list because it isn�t technically complete but you know that you DID work on it (that�s seriously the worst). 

Well, by tracking our progress, our basic to-do lists kind of turn into running journal/logs of our work� which is exactly what they should be! 

Here is an example:

To-Do:

Introductory Activity

Done:

Monday�> Read over the directions and started brainstorming

Tuesday�> Reread through the directions and created a rough outline

Wednesday�> NOTHING

Thursday�> Revised rough outline. Fluffed up writing. Turned in Intro Activity. 

And {finally} you can do this:

Introductory Activity

(YAY!)

See how much better that looks than leaving the same item lingering on a to-do list for days and days� making us feel all productive and whatnot? Always track your progress, even if you didn�t make any!

Trust me, you won�t allow yourself to write that nothing word down too many times :) 

Sources:

6 Reasons to Track Your Progress

Effectively Track and Accomplish Your Goals

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NYNL Day 26: Modify Your Daily Routines

Today's challenge is basically just an extension of yesterday�s! Once you have your notes on your current routines�

Modify your current routines to make time for working on your goals daily.

You will probably have to cut some things out of your old routine in order to add these new activities... Which is a good thing!

If you are trying to add a 30-minute workout to your daily routine, play around with your schedule until you find a place where it will effectively fit. Don't tell yourself you're going to wake up 30 minutes earlier to do it if you know you won't stick to it (I have done this SO many times!).

What time of the day do you usually have the most energy? When do you have the most downtime? When do you get sucked into those bouts of unproductivity? 

Well, then� try to fit the new workout routine into that time! Use it to replace another, less important item with it. 

This is why it is so important for us to be writing everything down so that we can actually SEE where our time is going and how to get it back!

Managing our time well is the closest we will ever get to adding more hours to the day! :) 

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NYNL Day 25: Write Down Your Routines

Today, we are focusing on the daily actions that we have set in place. We typically think of routines as recurring productive tasks to complete day after day. But, in reality, not all routines are good. In fact, I bet that a lot of us have some pretty lousy routines, if we really think about it (I certainly do!).  

So today�s challenge is to really examine those...

Write Down Your Daily Routines. 

As you go through each day for the next week or so� pay more attention to your daily habits. What do you do and when do you do it? 

Note Things that Frustrate You. 

For example, when I wake up in the morning, I want my coffee to be ready. I always have the best intentions of preparing it at night and setting the automatic timer for 5:00 AM. However, nearly every night, I wait until I�m super sleepy and ready to go to bed. Then I think, I should make coffee before I go to bed�  buuuut... I�m so tired tonight� I�ll just make it in the morning. And then I wake up in the morning, and it�s hard to get out of bed, and I�m still half-asleep, and I make a ridiculous mess all over the counter with the coffee grinds, and I vow to start setting up the coffee maker at night. 

And that is the cycle of my morning coffee plight. 

Compare Routines to Lists of Things to Improve and Maintain

Well, after making these lists, guess what? A ton of things on both lists were impacted by my daily routines! Of course I didn�t want to make coffee at night if I was doing homework before and after dinner. Why was I putting my homework off until so late when I get off work at 3? Oh, that would be because I was wasting (at least) 1 hour each afternoon on social media. 

Rearrange Your Routines

Interestingly enough, Limit Screen Time was one of the items on my list of things to improve. I already knew that it was sucking valuable time out of my day yet I was letting it. Taking that hour away from social media and giving it to schoolwork meant that I had an extra hour in the evenings. Which just happens to be more than enough time to make coffee and set the timer. 

Write This Down

5 Items to Add/Subtract for your Morning, Afternoon, and Evening Routines.

After all, how we spend our hours is how we spend our days� And how we spend our days is how we spend our lives!

Pinterest told me so. :)

Sources:

How to Design Your Own Master-Routine

How to Establish a Fabulous Daily Routine 

Top 10 Ways to Upgrade Your Daily Routine 

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NYNL Day 24: Take Action!

Today�s mini challenge? You are not even ready for it. SO freaking difficult...

Try to accomplish one thing from your to-do list.

Seriously. The challenge for this day is literally to do ONE thing from your to-do list!

How easy is that?! 

At this point, everything on that to-do list is leading up to accomplishing a big goal! The only thing to do now is to put all that planning into action... just get out there and do it!

And it sounds easy� because it kind of is easy. 

And just because it�s easy, Don�t try to complete the whole list in one day. You'll burn yourself out.

And Don�t give yourself a ridiculously difficult amount of items to do! You'll neglect the other parts if your life. 

The point is just to get into the daily habit/routine of working these little baby steps into your everyday life. Can you imagine the awesome things that you�ll be able to accomplish with 10 years of productive baby steps?!

One at a time. Little by little. :) 

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NYNL Day 23: Make a To-Do List

It�s really kind of crazy to me how simple these challenges are getting! At the beginning of this series, I knew that long-term planning would make prioritizing a little easier, but I had NO IDEA how completely simple it would make things!

Here is today�s Mini-Challenge: 

Make a To-Do List for this week.

I know, right? 

So� remember yesterday, when we designated a goal for each week this month? 

Take that goal and break it down into your to-do list for this week.

When I saw mine, I could not believe it! It looks just like every other mundane to-do list I�ve ever made in my life. Except that, this time, I knew it wasn�t. Thanks to my 10-year plan, 5-year plan, and checkpoints, I know that everything on that list matters!

Clean windows is not just another household chore. It�s a way to help our house sell so that we can move to whatever house in whatever city we choose!

E-mail advisor is not just another timeless task on my list. It�s the way I'll find out the requirements that I still need to meet before I can graduate and move on from this part of my life.

By working backwards through my life plan, I am able see the purpose of every small task in my daily life. And each of these little tasks is not just another thing to cross off of my list� it�s an eensy-weensy, baby step that�s taking me in the direction that I want to go! 

And I say YAY for baby steps! :) 

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NYNL Day 22: Designate a Weekly Goal

Check out your goal for this month. What is it? Well, I bet you can�t accomplish it all in one day. So break it down into 4 smaller steps. 

Mini Challenge: Make a goal for each week of this month

These should be 4 manageable steps that will make a significant impact. 

Here is my example. My goal for the month of January is this:

House staged perfectly and prepped for market

Well, how do we get there? We can�t just stick a sign in the yard and expect it to sell (we�ve tried). And we can�t just ask the staging fairy to *poof* make it �perfectly� staged. It takes a lot of work. 

No really� it takes a LOT of work. 

So we needed to create a plan that made the tasks less daunting and more manageable. 

Here it was:

Week 1: Fix/Repair damage to house

Week 2: Paint all walls neutral colors

Week 3: Discard/Store all excess items in house

Week 4: Contact realtor� take new pictures� officially list house

I am happy to say that we are 100% on schedule with this! Breaking down our very big goal (living in a different house in a different city) has been broken down into very manageable baby steps. 

Call a realtor to take new pictures of the house this week? 

Why, yes. I can do that. :) 

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NYNL Day 21: Goal Planning Checklist

It�s checklist day! YAY!

Here is the checklist for planning goals:

Create a Halfway Point

Create a halfway checkpoint for each of your big goals. Reaching it will be almost as exciting as reaching the final goal!

Plan to Overcome the Halfway Point

Studies have found that people lose motivation when they are halfway finished with a big project. Read this post for advice on regaining momentum! 

Set Checkpoints

Create some smaller checkpoints along the way to keep you on the right track! And, yes, reaching each one (no matter how small) is a cause for celebration!

Create a System to Follow

Create a system for keeping up with your goals and keep moving in the right direction! Everything needs a plan!

Get the Tools You Need

Go shopping! Get a notebook, a journal, a calendar, a to-do list� whatever will help you stay focused on your goals!

Designate a Monthly Goal

Try choosing one goal to focus on each month. This will make sure each goal has a chance to be top priority.

Now, go enjoy your day! :) 

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