What is “30 Days of 10?”
Like most days, I woke up one recent morning thinking about all of the things I not only need to do, but want to do. Quite a few of those things will improve my health or make me feel better. While still laying in bed that morning, I had a brainstorm that led to creating a plan for committing myself to 30 Days of 10 specific activities. Thus, “30 Days of 10” was born.
Back in November, I participated in a 30 days of Bragitude Challenge. The challenge is to self-recognize achievements and gratitude, and share those things for 30 days in a row. A friend and I have been wanting to do another 30 day something. So when I woke up that one morning wondering if that was going to be the day that I actually did any of those things that need to be done, I had an ‘aha’ moment. I should tie it to 30 days along with the accountability of sharing the goals with all of our #goodonesfam!
After thinking through what all I wanted to work on, I settled on 10. Starting in April, I will start my 30 days of 10 activities to improve my physical and mental health, and establish positive habits.
Keep reading, I’ll share my list below.
My 30 days of 10 will start April 1. I invite you to join me.
- It doesn’t have to be 10 things, it can be 1, 3, 5, 20… etc.
- It doesn’t require perfection, just an effort even if just for a minute (see, my theory is that if I go to the trouble to do it for 1 minute, I’ll do it more.)
- You don’t have to share your goals, achievements, or failures. However, I encourage you to. It’ll help. You’ll have a team surrounding you for support and that push you may occasionally need.
Free 30 Days of 10 Template (pdf)
My 10 Items:
- Take Zoe for a walk in the neighborhood
- Use my elliptical
- Stretch
- Work in my garden
- Training session with Zoe
- Play the piano
- Declutter one space (It can be one shelf or a whole room)
- Write a paragraph
- Take a selfie
- Keep a video diary
Let me elaborate a little…
1 – Walk Zoe
The main goal here is to get ME walking around the neighborhood. The Zoe part of is more about making it a little more meaningful in my brain. Zoe needs the exposure to other walkers, other dogs, noises, sounds, etc., not to mention the extra outlet for her boundless energy.
2 – Elliptical
Cardiovascular fitness… I used to have this to some degree and want to get it back. Not just that, but also, the increased circulation is great for inflammation.
3 – Stretch
My body is really needing to be stretched every day and I usually put my daily agenda above this simple task. By the end of the day, I just want to collapse and don’t want to stretch before bed either.
4 – Garden
It is that season again. I love gardening… for a little while. Then, I tend to neglect it. So, this goal is to push me to tend to my garden regularly and not abandon it later in the month.
5 – Training Zoe
No explanation needed here, I think. Again, this goal is to get me started instead of everyday thinking that I’ll do it the next day.
6 – Piano
I don’t usually talk about it, but I can play the piano and do enjoy it. It’s soothing and relaxing and also helps exercise my brain. This goal is for my mental health. One problem is that my piano is surrounded by clutter…
7 – Declutter
See how this works? ? Decluttering is helpful, healthful, and helps clear cobwebs from my brain. Decluttering is a pain, but I absolutely love the results for as long as it lasts.
8 – Take a Selfie
Honestly, I don’t know why this came to me as one of my 10 things. Obviously, I take pictures and videos every day. However, I rarely take a selfie of me, just for me. There’s always a reason, and usually related to explaining something about Jess or our life. I see this goal as lending itself toward self-awareness, self-acceptance, and reminding myself that I do stand alone as an individual even though it usually doesn’t seem like it.
9 – Writing
Did y’all know I used to blog regularly? ? Then, I switched to doing more videos and my writing kind of got lost. I do enjoy writing, though, and can often express myself better in writing than trying to do it out loud. I want to get back to publishing blog posts in addition to our videos. Also… I’ve got to get back in practice if I’m going to write that (those) books that I want to write.
10 – Video Diary
When I first thought of this idea, my next thought was, “but don’t I do that every day?” Our videos and pictures reflect our everyday life. But no, that’s not really a diary. There is so much in my head that I don’t share… thoughts, feelings, ups and downs. Since this is going to be more of a personal thing, my plan is to only share my video diary with our Crispies (our Club Crispy support group) except for those days I decide it may be best to keep it to myself.
Who Wants to do Their Own 30 Days of 10 with me?
Share here if you want. I will start a community blog post on April 1st where good ones can share their goals and/or progress as they see fit.
If you want to put your goals and progress out there for the masses, just put it in your Instagram Story and tag @Autistic_Interpretations and I’ll share on my story.
I’m looking forward to seeing how this goes!
