I often speak of challenges and things I like to do to push myself and keep me motivated. Some of the challenges last for 30 days and some for a few weeks, but this time I want to do something short. Not because I want it over with, but I want to see if it has an immediate impact on me. And a short burst of a challenge can hopefully allow me to achieve this. So I’ve opted for a five day challenge. Monday to Friday this week.
The idea is to choose to do something each day for your own wellbeing. My suggestion is to think of things you love to do. Things that make you smile, laugh, make you relaxed and once you have spent some time doing, you feel great, lifted and motivated, joyous and happy. It could actually be anything you love – from sewing to star gazing to baking or birdwatching. It’s personal to you.
The challenge each day is split into five points:
One
To get started choose five things you know you love or maybe add a couple of new things in you want to try. You will be excited to do it and even if you discover it isn’t for you, at least you’ve spent some time trying to see what you enjoy and what makes your soul sing. Keep your wellbeing at the forefront of your mind for the activities you choose.
Two
I know you’re thinking ‘well if you know you’ll enjoy it then what is the actual challenge!’ Well ensuring you actually carve out the time to do what you have said is a huge part of the challenge! We often start with good intentions but time gets in the way and we don’t achieve.
Therefore, pick the days you feel would be the most beneficial to you to do each task. For example if a Tuesday is too jam packed with things and you can only spare 15 minutes, pick something where 15 minutes will have an impact – no point trying to bake something if you don’t have time to begin with. This will just leave you feeling deflated and demotivated. Equally if you have a day where you have a lot of time, choose the task that you know you can get lost in and it doesn’t matter if you keep going. There is no harm in giving yourself no time limit, it’s quite nice to do something with no time restraint. You finish when you finish and the level of satisfaction can be huge!
Three
Now that you know what you are going to do and have an idea on the amount of time you’d like to spend on each task, the third part of the challenge is to write down how you feel before you start. It doesn’t have to be long, a couple of words will do. But it could be you’ve had a busy day at work and you really can’t be bothered or you didn’t sleep well so feel too tired to start. Just write down how you feel.
Four
Do the actual challenge.
Five
Afterwards, write down a couple of words to describe how you feel now. Is there a difference or do you still feel the same as you did before you began? You may find on a couple of days, you were feeling frustrated or angry or demotivated and then you did something you love and afterwards were relaxed and calm. Or it could be there is no change and that’s because you were feeling good to begin with or it’s just one of those days where nothing will shift your mood. But take note anyway.
Once you put it altogether your Five Day Challenge could look something like this:
| Day | Activity | Time | Feelings Before | Feelings After |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Baking | 60 Minutes | Annoyed, deflated | Calmer |
| Tuesday | Zoom call with friends | 45 Minutes | Excited | Happy |
| Wednesday | Reading | 30 Minutes | Tired, sad | Tired, relaxed |
| Thursday | Walking | 40 Minutes | Can’t be bothered | Energetic |
| Friday | Yoga | 60 Minutes | Bored, angry | Relaxed, calm |
By taking the time to write down how you feel each time, you can see what activities help you with certain feelings. You might not really notice until you do this over a period of time so maybe once a month you do this challenge. You can then incorporate the activities into your life and when those feelings reappear you have an idea of what can help!
Good luck with your challenge and see how you go, you might discover something about yourself that you didn’t know.
Have a great week and if you choose to do the Five Days of Wellbeing challenge, let me know how you get on.
Take care and look after you.
Love Emma xx😍🌼
Wellbeing with Relaxing Lavender 