24 Challenges for 2024
When embracing discomfort becomes necessary..
We're here in a bright and shiny new year! For some of us that means looking to the year ahead and half-heartedly promising to stop doing those bad habits that no longer serve you (...for the fifth time — but this year I'll definitely stop indulging in those guilty pleasures, I promise!).
After years of perfecting the art of breaking of my own resolutions, sometimes before January was even halfway through, I decided to just give up and try something else.
Instead, I now prefer to make a list of things that I'd like to focus more on. Ideas to lean into which help to guide me throughout the year. Less saying no, more saying yes (to the right things). Here’s my list for last year:
Be kinder to yourself
Forget about perfection
Think before you speak
Love unconditionally
Do the work that needs to be done
Each one was intentionally made to be loose in its interpretation so I had the flexibility of approaching it in my own way.
I'm currently working on my list for 2024, but to be honest I'd be pretty content with keeping the same list as last year. But as I go about wondering if there's any changes I'd like to make, I keep coming back to the idea of making one of them about embracing discomfort instead.
Embracing Discomfort
One of the questions from my 2023 Exit Survey was something along the lines of "where in life are you getting too comfortable?" Well, I think about this question a lot and often wonder if I'm really growing as a person or just coasting comfortably through life.
As a way to stop myself becoming too comfortable this year I've decided to make a list of 24 difficult things which I aim to achieve over the year. Like a list of goals, but intentionally leaning towards pushing me out of my comfort zone. A few of these may seem easy for some people but they're all something that I think would take a bit of work for me at least.
Here's a list of 24 challenges for 2024:
Shave my hair.
Run along the canal.
Don’t spend any money for one month. Pure essentials only.
Strike up a conversation with a complete stranger.
Go camping for a weekend.
Make a video where my voice or face is featured.
Wake up early often and read 20 pages before the day begins.
Go completely phone-less for a weekend.
No excess sugar for an entire month.
Volunteer somewhere in the local community.
Track what you eat for an entire month. Notice anything that can change.
Stretch 5 out of 7 days in a week before work.
Meditate 5 out of 7 days in a week before/after work.
Reduce my plastic use as much as possible.
Declutter. Have a big clear out of the boat in Spring. Remove one thing every day.
Perform seven random acts of kindness. If it's for a stranger, that's even better.
Show/tell 10 people you appreciate having them in your life. It should be people that least expect it.
Do the Dunwich Dynamo (cycle 112 miles from London to Dunwich in Suffolk).
Play live somewhere in London.
Get a tattoo.
Buy a maximum of 5 pieces of clothing.
Read a very tough, but rewarding, book. War & Peace with Simon Haisell right here on Substack.
Get one paid subscriber on Substack.
Swim in the sea on Christmas Day! (Flying to Australia is cheating!)
•Actually, I’ve cheated a tiny bit and I already completed one entry from this list at the end of 2023 (if you know me, you’ll know which one!)
Towards the end of the year I'll share how I did and I'll also keep updates here on Substack along the way.
Have a great year ahead and thank you for being here. Please share this with anyone you think might enjoy it and if you'd like to support these letters please buy one of my albums over on Bandcamp or consider becoming a paid subscriber here on Substack. My music is also on Spotify and Apple Music.
SJF
I love these challenges (I’d be down for most of them!)🙌