How to Stick to a Self Care Challenge: 7 Ways to Stay Committed
Do you love doing challenges but struggle to stick with them?
Same. I have always started challenges with the best intentions but somehow I always fell through. It didn’t matter how excited I was about the challenge or what I would gain once completed.
For some reason, I could never just stick with it. Was I lazy? Maybe. Or did I not truly care? But I did care.
What I’ve learned is that I was going about challenges the wrong way. I was jumping into things without planning or seeing the full picture. I knew something had to change, so I made some improvements.
So, let’s get into the details of what it takes to successfully stick to a self care challenge.
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What Can You Gain From Doing a Self-Care Challenge?
While bubble baths, painting your nails, and indulging in your favorite food are great self care activities to add to your routine, that’s not all that self care challenges are about.
Self care challenges are about setting the intention to prioritize your well-being and actually following through. When you commit to a challenge, you’re working towards a goal while discovering what actually makes you better.
Self care challenges are about showing up for yourself.
7 Ways to Stick to Your Self-Care Challenges
Step 1: Get Crystal Clear on Your Self-Care Needs
The first thing to do before diving into a challenge is to figure out what you need.
Do you feel disconnected from yourself? Are you burnt out or stressed? Once you know what you need, it’s easier to find and stick to a challenge that suits your needs.
But how do I figure out what I need? You can start by creating a self-care checklist.
As you create the list, it’s important to assess where you are currently and where it is that you want to be. I go into much more detail about creating your own self care checklist in this guide on self care for beginners.
Step 2: Stick to One Theme or Topic
You can’t throw every aspect of self care into one single challenge. The challenge should focus on one theme or topic.
All the self-care activities should be cohesive in getting you to your end goal.
Let’s say you wanted to do a self-love challenge in the month of February. The activities should all be geared towards things that will improve your self-confidence and help you find self-compassion.
But if you love the fall and want to do an autumn-inspired challenge, your activities would focus on things like drinking apple cider, going on a scavenger hunt, or dressing up in a Halloween costume.
Step 3: Try a Small Challenge First
Look, I’m a very optimistic person. I like to believe that I can do anything.
But there is no way I would attempt (nor complete) a 100-day challenge if I’ve never completed a challenge before.
So start with something small like a 7-day challenge to help you build momentum. I know we love to go all in, but we really do need to pace ourselves.
Imagine you wanted to run a marathon – I definitely do want to do this one day. But imagine you wanted to run a marathon. Do you think you can successfully complete it if you can’t even run a mile?
Step 4: Plan Your Challenge Ahead of Time
Create a clear plan for your challenge.
And I do mean a real plan. Not just planning in your mind. I want you to pull out some tools and create a physical plan. This is how you’re going to stay on track.
You can start by writing down the length of the challenge, and any materials you may need, and you should also list out some possible self-care activities you will complete for the duration of the challenge.
So basically, you’re creating your own self care challenge calendar. You can create this on an online calendar, a project management tool, or my go-to: a sheet of paper.
The most important thing is that you take the time to plan it out and have a physical copy that you can review before and during the challenge.
Step 5: Swap Out Self-Care Activities
Any challenge you participate in will be more enjoyable if you actually like what you are doing.
Not every self-care activity or task in a challenge will be beneficial, and you may not want to try it.
Let’s say you are participating in a 30-day glow-up challenge and one of those days is dedicated to polishing your nails and toes. But you already know you don’t wear polish because you don’t like the way it smells or feels on your nails.
Instead of skipping this day, swap it out for another self care activity instead.
Step 6: Be Patient and Reflect Daily
Making time to practice self care can be hard. And completing a challenge can be even harder.
Some self-care activities may make you feel amazing and others not so much. And then there are self -care activities you don’t want to do but need to do for the sake of your well-being.
It’s all part of the process. So be patient with yourself and your needs. Take the time to reflect on what’s getting you through the challenge versus what has created obstacles.
And remember to give yourself grace.
Step 7: Keep Going and Don’t Give Up
Don’t give up. No matter how hard the challenge can be. Sticking to any challenge requires your discipline.
So take it one day at a time.
When you’re on the other end of the challenge, you’ll be grateful that you pushed through and accomplished what you set out to do.
Self Care is About Taking Action, Not Perfection
The most important aspect of self care is that you continue to show up for yourself every single day.
It doesn’t mean that you have to spend 2 hours every day on self care activities. But surely, you can carve out 5 minutes of time to do something just for you.
And on some days, you may not even feel like doing anything (even for those 5 minutes) and that’s absolutely fine. Rest is self care, too.
So if you happen to skip a day of a challenge, it’s okay. Pick up where you left off the next day and try to keep the momentum going.
Read more about self care and challenges in these posts:
