I’d like to tell you a quick story about one of the (many) times in my life when I’ve been proved wrong -- or, rather, when I’ve inadvertently proved myself wrong.

Last year was my first experience with the Whole Life Challenge. For those who are unfamiliar, this is a 6-week challenge to make positive, sustainable lifestyle changes in habits such as diet, exercise, hydration, and sleep, among others (you can read the details on their site, HERE). The idea is simple: set simple daily lifestyle habit goals (for example, sleep 7 hours, eat no added sugars, get 10 minutes of physical activity) and allot points for successfully completing each of the task goals. Each day, if you meet the task goal, you get points. If you do not, you don’t get points for that category. The Whole Life Challenge uses this point system and combines it with community and teamwork through online teams (in our case, the gym and it’s extended community is the team) that casually compete, encourage, and hold each other accountable to the challenge at hand.

Full disclosure: I was reluctant to join the Whole Life Challenge last year. I liked the idea, and saw the potential for it to be a positive influence for others, but thought that I didn’t “need” to be part of a program or an online team to make the lifestyle changes that were part of the WLC. “I can just track the made-up points on my own and save myself a few dollars. Why do I need to pay money and make it a whole thing to do that?” (The error, of course, in this thinking is that I had not, up to that point, committed myself to such lifestyle changes, no matter how small or large they may have been, so why did I think that things would be any different going forward?)

Long story short, I was encouraged to join the WLC and give it a try, if for no reason other than to participate as a coach and understand what it was about. And, longer story even shorter, despite my reluctance and admittedly skeptical attitude going into the challenge, I participated fully and got tremendous value from the whole experience.

To keep it simple, I’m going to give you three reasons that I think I experienced such a change in perspective and attitude -- three things that helped me get the most from the Whole Life Challenge:

1 - Skin in the game.

I frequently talk about this concept, and I’m learning more and more how powerful this concept is. Simply put, if you personally invest something in an endeavor (money, time, reputation), your commitment to and decision-making within that endeavor will far exceed what it would be if you came into it risk- and investment-free. Your commitment to a business that someone else has bankrolled will never even approach your commitment to a business that you’ve paid for with your own money. Sometimes, what this means is investing a few of your own dollars to commit yourself to making some changes. After all, you haven’t made these changes yet, have you?

I invested myself in the game, I was held accountable by my team and my position as a coach and leader, and it paid dividends.

2 - Temporary challenge, sustainable learning.

The idea with the Whole Life Challenge is not to precisely follow the lifestyle habits laid out in the 6-week challenge for the rest of your life. It is to commit yourself to a temporary challenge -- something that is not easy and effortless to change -- and to walk away from it with long-lasting lessons and selective changes. I went into the WLC with this understanding, and it worked for me much in the same way that a university course involves a temporary period (semester, quarter, etc.) of intensive study that leads to a development of skill or understanding that extends far beyond the semester’s end. Perhaps this is as simple as realizing how much better you feel when you avoid added sugars in your food, perhaps it’s a daily meditation practice, perhaps it’s a simple daily 10 minute walk, or maybe it’s just the realization that a 6-week reset a few times a year does wonders for your well-being.

3 - I actually did it.

This is key. Despite my reluctance and skepticism, I didn’t half-ass my effort in the WLC. After all, if you’re going to try something, you’re only sealing your own fate if you go into it with minimal application of yourself. Without a doubt, I made mistakes and left room for improvement, but I undertook it with a mind to get it right and see what happened, not to cruise through and wait for results or realizations to accidentally fall in my lap, or to dismissively claim it “didn’t work.” I’m not at all interested in hearing how someone tried this program or that program and it sucked and they didn’t get anything from it, but in fact they only did half of the program, and even then they only kind of stuck to that half. The driver picks the vehicle’s direction, not the passenger. Be the driver.

I’d like to make it clear that this is not a sales pitch for the Whole Life Challenge. Of course I want you to join our team and try the WLC, in the same way that I want you to try the new taqueria that I came across that’s absolutely killing it on the Taco Tuesday game, and of course my positive experience is intended to share with you what can be gained from a challenge like this; but the choice is ultimately yours to make, and I want it to be a sincere one.

There’s change to be had. Jump on board if you’re ready.

Sign Up Here

- PS

12/20/17

• Hang power snatch - 3,3,3,3

Then...

• 10 min AMRAP

• 10 hang power snatch (95/65)

• 10 push-ups

• 200m run