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The Seven Day Switch

Let me preface this by saying what I'm doing is by no means revolutionary. I know I'm not the first to embark on such tasks and I know I will not be the last. So, with that out of the way, Meet the Seven Day Switch. Wikipedia says the seven-year itch is a psychological term that suggests that happiness in a relationship declines after around year seven of a marriage. As someone who is not married, I can still say that happiness in my relationship with myself has been on the decline. Thus, the Seven Day Switch - seven days completing a challenge aka something I need to or always wanted to do. 

 It all started with being far too overwhelmed by all the things I wanted to do. There are so many books I want to read. There are many diet adjustments I need to make. I want to be a morning person. I want to work out in the morning. I want to do nice things for others. I want to increase my discipline. I've completed two Whole30 challenges, two week Detox challenges, and a "run a mile every day for a month" challenge. Successfully completing these challenges has given me a great sense of accomplishment. However as a textbook ENFP with "shiny object syndrome," I fail to see most challenges through. I get brilliant new ideas and then I get more ideas and the original brilliant ideas go to waste. I'm fickle that way.

 So I thought, hey...I can do ANYTHING for seven days. From Monday to Sunday I would complete a series of challenges aligned with the things I want and need to do in my life. These challenges include things like read a chapter a night, get up at 5:30am and write, no sugar for a week, don't spend money for a week...etc. Some are going to be insanely hard (no sugar, no alcohol, no dairy, getting up early). Some are going to be really fun (fixing my hair in a new style every day, doing a random act of kindness each day, making a craft each day). 

 I designed a spreadsheet with 50 challenges. Each Saturday I would have a friend pick a number at random. That would be my challenge for the week. There would be no re-picks EXCEPT for dietary restrictions over Thanksgiving and Christmas. I mean...if I had to do a 7 day detox over Thanksgiving, my parents would be a little disappointed. I would complete the challenge every day for 7 days. If I slipped up, I'd have to repeat the challenge for the next week until it is completed. 

 This past Saturday, using a random number generator, my best friend chose the number 5. That corresponded with "read a chapter each night." I'm on day 3 and have been faithful. Currently I'm readying "Stop Anxiety from Stopping You." It is pretty insightful and I hope by seven chapters, I'll want to freely continue reading it. It is not that I don't enjoy reading. It is that I get so distracted by everything in my life I don't carve out time to read. 

 This blog is a space to document the journey. It is my accountability portal and reflection section. I hope you enjoy! 

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