One of my favorite ways of trying something new is to turn it into a challenge. I’ve been doing this for a few years now with great success! Most of the time I do 30-day challenges. Even if what I’m doing doesn’t ultimately work for me, I’ve learned something new and completed a goal.
So I thought that because they’ve been a great success for me, that you would like to try them out for yourself. Now it can be hard to come up with 30-day challenge ideas but that’s where I’ve done the work for you.
I’ve created some challenges myself and enlisted a few other bloggers to help me out. Because of the nature of this website, these monthly challenges are all about self-care, mental health, and personal development.
So if you’re ready to learn something new and better yourself, check out these awesome 30-day challenge ideas!
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What Is a 30-Day Challenge?
A 30-Day Challenge is a task that you perform for 30 consecutive days. It can be anything from quitting smoking, to waking up earlier in the morning, or even learning a new language! By completing this challenge every day for 30-days straight, it will help train your brain into creating positive habits that stick with you long term.
Why Should You Do a Monthly Challenge?
There are many reasons why you may decide to do a monthly challenge. Personally, I do monthly challenges because I want to try something new and 30 days is an easy time frame.
A 30-day challenge is challenging but not impossible. It’s easy to do a month-long challenge because all you have to do is track your progress for an entire month instead of having one specific end goal like the other challenges on this list.
Do 30-day challenges actually work?
In my experience, yes! However, it is always about how you approach it. It’s easy to say “this month I’m going to go work out every day” but unless you have a reason for doing this, other than just making yourself do something, then you will likely fail. Make sure that your goal is measurable and achievable!
Self-Love and Self-Care 30 Day Challenges
10 Minute Yoga Challenge
This was recommended to me by Danielle from Mostly Clean Eats. Here’s what she said!:
I just completed this challenge a week and had such great results I started it from the beginning. Each practice has a positive affirmation to help you set yourself up for success for the day ahead! I gained core strength, toned, reduced my anxiety, and felt way more productive during my days.
Saying No
Saying no is HARD. But often you need to say it in order to take care of yourself. This challenge is all about saying no and learning how to advocate for yourself, even when it is hard.
Every day this month, try your best to say ‘no’ at least once to something that you are asked to do or want to do that could be detrimental to your well-being. Yes, this means sometimes you will have to tell yourself no.
Daily Walks
Getting outside is tough for me, especially because I work from home. So it might be a challenge for you too. Going on a daily walk is a really great way to get some exercise and spend time outside.
Make it more fun by inviting someone to go on a walk with you. I’m sure you can find someone in your life who would want to join you too (dog, child, significant other(s), etc).
The key here is just getting out there!
Get More Sleep
Getting enough sleep is so important to your health and well-being. If this is a struggle for you because your mind won’t shut off at night or perhaps insomnia keeps you up all hours of the night, then this 30-day challenge might just be what you need to get some extra zzz’s in!
For 30 days, you should get more sleep in. I’m not going to tell you how much because that is so dependent on each person. However, I will tell you that I’ve realized that I need at least 9 to 10 hours of sleep if I don’t want to wake up with a headache.
Experiment for a bit and see how much you need to feel your best. Once you find out, get that amount of sleep and see how your life will change!
Self-Love Challenge from Learning To Be Free
Yup! This is my challenge! This challenge is to help you cultivate more self-love in 30 days. This challenge is absolutely free to you, though some ideas include purchasing things (though you don’t have to!).
You can also check out my 7 Days of Self-Love email course that goes more in-depth about self-love concepts like self-acceptance, perfectionism, and self-care.
Self-Love Challenge from Breathe Hustle Glow
You will get a copy of the 30 Day Challenge designed to help you get to know yourself better! Some days you will self-reflect and other days you will pamper yourself with an act of self-care. Expect to feel happier, more self-aware and more positive about who you are by the end of the 30 days! ?
Follow a Morning or Evening Routine
Following a morning or evening routine can be really beneficial to your overall happiness and well-being.
For this 30-day challenge, you’re going to want to create a morning routine that will help set the tone for your day or evening routine that helps you wind down before bedtime. This should include things like meditation, journaling, reading books, etc!
Creating these routines can help you feel more in control of your life and help improve your mood.
Learn more about morning routines and evening routines!
Mental Health 30 Day Challenges
30 Day Positivity Challenge from One Exceptional Life
Want to know what true happiness is and how you can achieve it? Check out this post on happiness by Wendy from One Exceptional Life. In this post, Wendy talks about how to achieve happiness and invites you to join a 30-day positive challenge! The challenge involves daily activities that you can do to elevate your mood.
Mental Health Challenge from Scoop of Thoughts
This 30-day mental health challenge is all about improving your mental health. The challenge consists of one task per day that you can customize to fit your needs. It aims to help you improve your thinking, focus on your mental health, and achieve a better quality of life.
Social Media Detox Challenge
I don’t know about you, but for me, social media can be incredibly draining. I spend so much time scrolling through my feed and comparing myself to others that I often neglect important errands or just sit there feeling bad about myself.
So if you’re ready for a social media detox, this is the challenge for you. For 30 days, try to do one of the following every day:
– Unfollow accounts that make you feel bad about yourself
– Start your day by turning your phone on airplane mode and focusing all of your energy on self-care for an hour.
– Use the ‘mute’ option to keep drama off of your timeline without unfollowing anyone (this is one of my favorite things to do).
Gratitude Journaling
I’ve been doing daily gratitude journaling for years now and it has definitely helped my mental health. I love going back and seeing what I was grateful for years ago. For this challenge, you can write down three things that you’re grateful for every day.
The key is to take a few minutes out of your day and focus on some positive self-care practices. This can help boost your mood as well as provide valuable insight into what makes you happy! (PSST…get a free gratitude journal here).
Meditation Challenge
Meditation can be a really hard thing to get into. It’s something I’ve been doing on and off for years now but have found some success with it more recently.
My favorite way of meditating is using the Emotional Freedom Technique or tapping. I use the Tapping Solution app, but there are plenty of videos, apps, and resources to learn how to meditate. Try doing it for at least 10 minutes each day for this challenge.
Meditating is a great way to reduce your stress levels and improve your mood!
Complete a Random Act of Kindness
Random acts of kindness can be so powerful. Doing something nice for someone else can help you feel better and it might even inspire them to do the same!
This 30-day challenge is very simple: complete at least one random act of kindness every day for 30 days. Some ideas for you to do could be:
– Pay for someone’s coffee behind you in line at Starbucks
– Leave a kind note and some chocolate on your neighbor’s doorstep
– Bring dinner or coffee to a friend who is going through a tough time.
Whatever it may be, just spread the kindness around! It’ll make the whole world a little bit better.
Gratitude Challenge from Pink Fortitude
Raise your hand if life seems to have taken over these days. Are you overwhelmed? Are you missing that inner strength that you once had? Are you looking to find calm during the storm? You don’t have to let your problems get you down. Practicing gratitude on a daily basis is scientifically proven to help you see the positive in life instead of focusing on the negative. Wanna learn how? Join me for the Gratitude Builds Fortitude 30-Day Challenge.
Mind Reboot Challenge From Maycee Sugarol
Mind Reboot Challenge is a 30-day positive affirmation challenge. It is meant to help you feel more positive, uplifted, and guide you to take back control of the things you can in your life. Mind Reboot Challenge is all about strengthening the mind through regular use of positive affirmations.
It includes a free guide and a complimentary Facebook group where challengers get the support they all need during those 30 days and beyond.
Self-Improvement 30 Day Challenges
Do Something New Every Day
This one may take a bit of thought before you embark on it. You can’t just go out and do something new every day without a bit of thought. It has to be an activity that you have never done before or haven’t done in a long time.
For example, I’ve always wanted to visit the Westside Market in Cleveland. Write down a list of all the things you’ve never done before and pick one new thing to do each day. I bet you’ll discover something new about yourself too!
Some ideas for this could be: going on a hike, trying a new restaurant in your area, or even skydiving!
Listen to a podcast every day
I love listening to podcasts and even wrote a whole blog post on my favorite podcasts. So I was excited to see this 30-day challenge idea!
For the next 30 days, try listening to a podcast every day. Set an alarm or reminder on your phone and make sure you don’t forget. You can do this while doing other tasks like cooking dinner, cleaning, etc.
I’ve even started listening at night as part of my morning routine.
No Spend Challenge from Mom Money Map
The no-spend challenge is when you don’t spend money over 30 days. This doesn’t mean you can’t spend any money. You can give yourself allowances on what you can spend money on like groceries or medical products. The benefits of doing this challenge is that it opens your mind up to changing your spending habits.
Reading A Book
I know it may seem simple, but reading a book every day is actually an incredibly difficult task. For this 30-day challenge idea, you can read anything: fiction or non-fiction, self-help books, comics, etc. Try to read for at least 10 minutes a day. If that seems too easy for you, up to to 30 minutes or even an hour.
One thing that might make this easier is to use audiobooks from Audible.
Mindful Eating
Mindful eating is the act of focusing all of your energy on the meal in front of you. It can help to slow down and appreciate what you’re eating. This means no eating in front of your computer while you’re watching YouTube (I’m saying this to myself).
For this challenge, eat mindfully for at least one meal each day. Eat slowly, savor each bite, and focus intently on how it makes your body feel. Your goal is simply to enjoy food.
Meet Someone New Every Day
This may be a challenging challenge, especially if you are introverted like me. Meeting new people can be tough and awkward. But you’ve got to do it if you want to grow as a person! So your 30-day challenge is going out there and meeting one new person every day.
It could be as simple as meeting a neighbor that you haven’t gotten to know yet or striking up a conversation at your local coffee shop. You never know what new connections could spark for your life.
Learn a New Skill
Learning a new skill is more than just a self-improvement challenge. It can also help you to better connect with your profession, children, family members, etc!
The key is finding something that interests you and learning about it every day for 30 days. This could be anything from taking an online course on Photoshop or brushing up on some Excel skills at works.
Personally, I love YouTube and SkillShare for learning new skills. They both have videos on anything and everything that you could possibly want to learn.
Take a Picture or Video Every Day
I got this challenge from a good friend. She has been using the app 1 Second Every Day to document her daily life. It has been so much fun to watch small snippets of her life.
For this challenge, try to take a picture or video every day. It can be something as small as the flower you bought from your local grocery store or even taking a picture of yourself doing yoga in your living room!
Feel free to share these photos with other people or on social media, but don’t feel pressured to. These images can just be for you to look back on what you’ve done over the past month.
Declutter
I looove decluttering! Since I found a Buy Nothing Group in my area, everything that I don’t want goes there.
For this 30-day challenge, attempt to declutter one item from your home every day. It doesn’t have to be a big task. You can keep every item you want to declutter in a box.
The idea is that you will end up with 30 items that you no longer need or want at the end of the month. This can help clear your mind and make your home feel more peaceful and organized!
Once you have your items, you can donate them, sell them, or give them away to someone you know. You can learn more about Buy Nothing Groups here.
What do you think about these monthly challenges? Are there any that stand out to you or that you’d like to try? Personally, I’m trying to do a photo or video every day! Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Briana Hollis is a licensed social worker and self-care coach. She earned her Master of Science in Social Administration from Case Western Reserve University in 2014 and her Master of Education from Tiffin University in 2019. She has spent the last 5 years working in crisis intervention. Her passion for serving others is the heart of this site. She started Learning To Be Free to assist others in bringing freedom to their lives.
Briana is also the author of The Self-Care Journal for Young Adults.
Great list, Briana. And thank you so much for including my Positivity Challenge.?