Need motivation?
Accountability?
A kick in the pants to get yourself back on track?
Some self-looooove instead of self-loathing?
JOIN the May 2015 Herbie Calendar Challenge!
And track your SUCCESS!!!
Recently I hosted this calendar challenge with our VIP meal plan members and it was EPIC.
In fact, the results were so awesome (dare I say revolutionary!) that I had to spread this little tip out to the masses!
Background: A friend of mine noticed how motivated her son got when he was allowed to put gold stars on the calendar (he got one if he did his chores that day).
She thought she’d try this herself and found it helped motivate her.
I then upcycled the idea to our members for the month of April.
The idea is to set a realistic goal you can complete daily for the whole month, and every day you do it, you get to put a sticker on the calendar.
For example, if your goal was to stick to the meal plans, every day you followed the plan, you would get a sticker or smiley face.
NO mark if you don’t, however.
It’s AMAZING to see the collective smiles or stickers over the month.
Because when you miss a day, or two days in a row, you can only remember the day you missed, which leads to “I suck” and self-loathing talk.
You develop negative tunnel vision and forget all the good progress prior.
Instead of ahscrewit, the calendar reminds you of the bigger picture.
Seeing ALL your success — all those little victories — added up changes your perception and MOTIVATES you even more.
But don’t take my word for it…
Our members had a wide range of goals, unique to each of them.
For example, some people set a goal of consuming no alcohol, or no sugar. Several others had exercise-oriented goals such as walking at least 5,000 steps per day, or walking after dinner, or taking the bus and not the car.
There were also goals like packing your lunch or not eating out.
OR not reading comments on Facebook (that’s a good one!)
My goal was to drink 100 oz of water (or tea) per day.
I did pretty well! I flubbed a bit at the end because I was on airplanes a lot, which isn’t an excuse (except that I HATE airplane bathrooms).
Whatever your goal is, make sure it’s realistic for you AND try not to make it too complicated or intimidating. It might be tempting to set 4 goals for yourself, but slow and steady wins the race here.
There’s also a power in setting really low quotas.
(I highly recommend reading that post!)
If there is anything I’ve learned from using the meal plans (and my OCD!) it’s that we IMPROVE what we measure.
This challenge sounds silly simple but it’s crazy effective.
And because I know nothing is more motivating than a little competition…
and prizes are even MORE motivating…
Three (3!) participants will receive a copy of my new book, the enhanced paperback version of The Happy Herbivore Guide to Plant-Based Living (out May 5th!)
Click here to sign up for the Happy Herbivore newsletter (it’s totally FREE!)
Be sure to confirm your email address (check your spam box!)
and add Lindsay[at]happyherbivore[dot]com to your contacts.
You’ll receive an email towards the end of the month for how you can submit a picture of your calendar — even if you miss a few days it’s okay!
No perfection required — just your best, honest effort!
AND if you’re a meal plan member, there’s a special thread in the forums for you — share there to qualify for additional members-only prizes.
I’ll also send you a little motivation love note and progress report from time to time throughout the challenge!
Sticker up,
Lindsay
#stickerup
