Tips for Completing a Challenge

"Hey where do I start? And when’s the best time to start? I have a very simple answer for that. Here, and now. You want to improve? You want to get better? Where do you start? You start right here. And when do you start? You start right now. You initiate the action aggressively. You go! The idea isn’t going to execute itself. And the book isn’t going to write itself. And the weights out in the gym they’re not going to move themselves. You have to do it and you have to do it now. You’ve gotta stop thinking about it and stop dreaming about it and stop researching every aspect of it and reading all about it and debating the pros and cons of it. Just start doing it. Take that first step and make it happen! Get after it."                                   - Jocko Willink - 

1. Do it now! Start your goal today. I always find myself waiting for the beginning of a new month, or the start of a new week, but then there's a good chance that I wake up on that day without the desire to do the challenge any more. If you start today, you will already have one win under your belt and the next one will be that much easier.
2. Have a plan: Figure out ahead of time what you will need, when you will do it, and where it will be done. Also have a method for tracking it, whether it's simply a calendar where you mark off each day, or it's a detailed planner, just make sure you can visibly see your progress. A few of my personal favorites are the Refillable A5 Leather Binder Journal and the Clear Habits Journal.
3. Prepare: If your plan is to go off of sugar, make sure you have healthy options in your home and you don't have unhealthy ones. If you want to run in the mornings, lay out your running clothes and shoes the night before. Make it easy to do what it is right, and hard to do what is not.
4. Try habit stacking: So often the reason we fail is because we simply forget. One of the easiest ways to remember is to habit stack: attach a new goal to an old habit. Maybe you want to listen to more podcasts: listen while folding your laundry or washing your dishes. Or if it's memorizing more Bible verses: write them on a 3x5 card and memorize them while brushing your teeth. It simply makes it that much easier to remember.
5. Set a repeating timer for a specific time each day. The timer will remind you both every day and at the specific time that you are free. This option is harder for those with busy schedules that are different each day, but it often works when habit stacking does not.
6. Get a challenge buddy: "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up." - Ecclesiastes 4:9-10. Get someone who will laugh at you when you do something stupid, scold you if you try to quit, and encourage you to keep going when you fall.
7. Know your why behind the what. Understand why you're doing the challenge and keep it written somewhere in front of you where it will be a constant reminder why you shouldn't give up. 
8. If you make a mistake don't quit: "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief." - Proverbs 24:16. You may not have gotten it perfect, but remember, "Practice makes progress." - Jim Kwik. This is something that I struggle with because I focus on doing the challenge perfectly, rather than focusing on why I started it in the first place. No matter how many times you fail, you'll still be better than if you never started.
9. Separate your emotions from your behavior: Just because you are sad, hungry, etc. does not mean that you need to act upon those feelings. Use those feelings as an opportunity to grow your discipline. Become better. Keep going.