Make 2009 Great: Join The Power of Less New Year’s Challenge!

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

I’m excited to announce The Power of Less New Year’s Challenge — it’s free, and it’ll help you form a new habit in 30 days, in just 10 minutes a day.

It’s a great way to start the New Year, and to make 2009 a great year. Forming a new habit is better than making a resolution, because if you use the effective habit-change principles in The Power of Less, the habit will stick with you much longer than the resolution.

How It Works

Here’s how The Power of Less New Year’s Challenge works:

SIGN UP for the Challenge by joining THE POWER OF LESS Challenge forum … it’s free and easy to sign up. Read the FAQ for the forum when you sign up for more info on how to use the forum.
PUBLICLY COMMIT. Once you’ve joined the forum, go to the section that asks you to post your new habit. Start a new topic, introduce yourself and tell everyone what your habit will be for the 30 days. This is a public commitment that will hold you accountable and motivate you.
FOCUS on the new habit for just 10 minutes a day, EVERY DAY. No exceptions. No excuses. Everyone has 10 minutes a day. You might need to plan your schedule to ensure you’ve set aside the 10 minutes for the day, but do not make exceptions! Read more: 9 Rules to Form a Habit (pdf format).
REPORT your progress each day on THE POWER OF LESS Challenge forum. It’s simple and takes 2 minutes: log in to the forum, go to the daily progress thread (there’s a new one each day) and

That’s it. Just four simple steps: sign up, publicly commit, focus on the goal for just 10 minutes a day, and take 2 minutes each day to report your progress. In 30 days, you’ll have a new habit!

See 9 Rules to Form a Habit (pdf format) for strategies that will ensure your success in the Challenge!

Go to The Power of Less New Year’s Challenge for more!

My New Year’s Challenge: To Become More Present

To get things started, I’ll report my New Year’s Challenge:

For January I’d like to practice mindfulness — being more present as much as possible. To start small, I’m going to create the new habit of doing Zen meditation for 10 minutes every morning.

I actually want to be more present in everything I do — from washing dishes to showering to walking to driving to talking to people — and I’ve been practicing this more and more the last few weeks. But as always, I will start small — if I start with 10 minutes of zazen (sitting meditation) then I can use the progress there and carry it to other parts of my life.

My trigger: first thing in the morning, after I have my cup of coffee, before I go on my morning run.

To increase accountability: I’m going to tell my friends and family about this and of course post about it here on Zen Habits. I’ll post about it in a couple weeks to let you guys know how things are going, or check out the Challenge to see my daily progress.

Wish me luck! And best of luck to everyone participating in the Challenge!

Leo

Make 2009 Great: Join The Power of Less New Year’s Challenge!

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

I’m excited to announce The Power of Less New Year’s Challenge — it’s free, and it’ll help you form a new habit in 30 days, in just 10 minutes a day.

How It Works

Here’s how The Power of Less New Year’s Challenge works:

SIGN UP for the Challenge by joining THE POWER OF LESS Challenge forum … it’s free and easy to sign up. Read the FAQ for the forum when you sign up for more info on how to use the forum.
PUBLICLY COMMIT. Once you’ve joined the forum, go to the section that asks you to post your new habit. Start a new topic, introduce yourself and tell everyone what your habit will be for the 30 days. This is a public commitment that will hold you accountable and motivate you.
FOCUS on the new habit for just 10 minutes a day, EVERY DAY. No exceptions. No excuses. Everyone has 10 minutes a day. You might need to plan your schedule to ensure you’ve set aside the 10 minutes for the day, but do not make exceptions! Read more: 9 Rules to Form a Habit (pdf format).
REPORT your progress each day on THE POWER OF LESS Challenge forum. It’s simple and takes 2 minutes: log in to the forum, go to the daily progress thread (there’s a new one each day) and

That’s it. Just four simple steps: sign up, publicly commit, focus on the goal for just 10 minutes a day, and take 2 minutes each day to report your progress. In 30 days, you’ll have a new habit!

See 9 Rules to Form a Habit (pdf format) for strategies that will ensure your success in the Challenge!

Go to The Power of Less New Year’s Challenge for more!

My New Year’s Challenge: To Become More Present

To get things started, I’ll report my New Year’s Challenge:

My trigger: first thing in the morning, after I have my cup of coffee, before I go on my morning run.

Wish me luck! And best of luck to everyone participating in the Challenge!

Leo

Spewed into the world on 28 December 2008 in Goals & Motivation |
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Brilliant comments (37)

Vincent Says:

December 28th, 2008, 20:56 pm

Great idea Leo! Way to get others motivated to find a habit that will make us more productive in our daily activities. I have been so busy lately that I have not been stretching or meditating in the morning or at night. Thanks to your challenge, this will remind me to spend at least 10min a day to stretch and meditate.

David Turnbull Says:

December 28th, 2008, 20:56 pm

Just signed up and posted my habit. :)

Jay Says:

December 28th, 2008, 21:10 pm

Wow Leo. Book on the way and still giving us great value to improve our lives. Thank you Leo! I am signing up right now.

Robertux Says:

December 28th, 2008, 21:21 pm

Great motivation to start a new habbit this new year! I’ll start to plan it from now.

Thanks for the challenge.

Leo Says:

December 28th, 2008, 22:25 pm

Thanks guys! There’s already a bunch of people who have signed up … I think this is going to be an awesome challenge!

I’ve used challenges like this before to create new habits, from quitting smoking to running and waking early … actually a whole list of habits … so I know this challenge really does work if you stay committed to it.

Summer Says:

December 28th, 2008, 22:52 pm

Great idea! I’m signing up right now!

RealVermin Says:

December 28th, 2008, 23:16 pm

This is a really good idea! I’m sick of breaking my resolutions so I’m going to sign up as soon as I’ve had a quick power nap. Thanks!

jessica Says:

December 28th, 2008, 23:20 pm

Thanks Leo, just when I was looking for the right tool to help me commit to a new year goal - you must be reading my mind again. :)
I’m off to sign up this very minute, can’t wait!

Slacker Says:

December 28th, 2008, 23:56 pm

Leo,

Thanks for sharing and offering this service. I think I’m going to stick to only 1 resolution this year maybe 2 at max, rather than committing to 10 and getting none of them accomplished. In fact, I don’t even remember what last year’s resolutions were.

On the bright side, I’m starting out the new year with a bang, I created a new website for free file hosting.. just because. I have no idea what I’m going to do with it yet, but mainly wanted to give back to the internet community. Check it out if you get a chance (www.zendump.com) yes your name sorta inspired the website but I’ve been buying zen domains forever.

Anyway, I’ll work on that new year’s resolution. Thanks for everything, you’re the best!

- Slacker
http://www.theslackermethod.com

Misty (MyInspirationLounge.com) Says:

December 29th, 2008, 0:24 am

I like the idea of practicing your new habit for 10 minutes a day. It doesn’t seem so overwhelming then. Another inspiring author, Sark, suggests micromovements. Breaking it down into many small steps so you are always making progress even if it’s small. I do like the concept of new habit vs resolution - I actually haven’t made any new resolutions in the last couple of years because I never kept them. My recent post at My Inspiration Lounge lists fun resolutions we can actually keep!

Enduring Wanderlust Says:

December 29th, 2008, 3:02 am

I’ve been meditating ever since I read Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. It’s a masterpiece. Morning meditation often has an impact on the entire day. Helps to clear the mind for the day’s activities along with providing a calm to face any difficulties that may arise over the course of the day.
–Gennaro

Mike Says:

December 29th, 2008, 3:19 am

Why not give security to your fam for the holidays? Lots of good deals on AV out there. Just saw Panda Security for $20, good until new year’s day, apparently:
http://tinyurl.com/a3cyw6

Glen Allsopp Says:

December 29th, 2008, 3:27 am

Great Idea Leo, just submitted this to StumbleUpon for you.

I’ll definitely be signing up later in the day and trying to set myself a new habit!

Cheers
Glen

J.D. Meier Says:

December 29th, 2008, 6:16 am

Good job.

I think social proof builds momentum and support.

Mindfulness is a great habit. I think Peaceful Warrior is one of the best examples of putting it into practice.

carll Says:

December 29th, 2008, 7:21 am

You should start before your coffee.
Try it. A present cup tastes so much more real it’s incredible. :)

Michael Kieweg Says:

December 29th, 2008, 7:28 am

Hai

I just signed up too.
Although I know even now, that there will be exceptions from the daily routine, because my challenge has to happen at home and there will be definitely days in january when I’m not at home.
Have to think about it….

Lee Ann / Living Introverted Says:

December 29th, 2008, 8:31 am

OK, I’m going to do it. I bet I can set aside 10 minutes every day for my new habit.
Thanks for challenging each of us to make our lives better in the upcoming year!

LifeMadeGreat | Juliet Says:

December 29th, 2008, 9:04 am

Nice idea Leo
Gonna give this a think.
Meditiation was my first thought….but, we’ll see ;)

Juliet

Kelly Says:

December 29th, 2008, 9:13 am

Leo - just a note - your new book is mentioned in Self magazine on page 26. Pretty Awesome!

Love the new challenge!

Adriano Ferrari Says:

December 29th, 2008, 10:46 am

I’m up for the challenge. My #1 choice is “writing daily”, but I’ll be picking more than one habit.

I have a program, in beta, that helps with exactly this kind of thing: http://HabitShaper.com/index.htm

Tabitha (From Single to Married) Says:

December 29th, 2008, 11:40 am

This is a GREAT idea Leo! I’m going to send it around to my friends too…

Adriano Ferrari | HabitShaper Says:

December 29th, 2008, 11:49 am

I am up for the challenge, and I’ll be using my own habit-tracker!

My number one habit to form in 2009 is “writing daily”.

Melody Says:

December 29th, 2008, 13:31 pm

That’s awesome, Leo! Both the tools you’ve developed to help the rest of us, and your January resolution.

Like you, I’ve been trying to develop more mindfulness through meditation. I’ve recently started attending sitting meditation at a nearby zen temple. It’s not easy, but it’s called a “practice” for a reason.

What I wanted to point out is that, meditating after your morning coffee might be a bit challenging. The caffeine might interfere with ability to sit still and focus. Perhaps doing it before the coffee would be best? Just an idea.

Either way, congratulations on your new book and thanks for your wonderful blog. It really is a source of inspiration for all of us.

Michelle @ What Does Your Body Good? Says:

December 29th, 2008, 14:14 pm

Be held accountable for my goals? GASP :-) My husband and I could use this.

tzumeister Says:

December 29th, 2008, 14:26 pm

awesome stuff. habits don’t lie.

character is destiny. - Heraclitus

the essence of destiny
Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits: they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

Steve Martile Says:

December 29th, 2008, 15:43 pm

Hi Leo,

That is a fantastic idea; that is to make your commitments public. I’ve done the same thing with the release of my ebook: The Genius Within YOU.

If you’ve got 1,000 people (or in your case 80,000 people) listening you’ve got some accountability from your community.

I’m listening :)

curiousalexa Says:

December 29th, 2008, 18:40 pm

One. you want us to pick just. one. change. argh.. Please pass the die? the 20d?

I have been impatiently waiting for this, yay! now i’m off to check it out, and hope there’s advice on how to pick!

Erelen Says:

December 29th, 2008, 18:55 pm

What a wonderful tool! I love the community involvement and resources you provide to assist people with their goals. Kudos Leo! I love your site for the extra thought you put into each article.

Anbusivam Says:

December 30th, 2008, 1:42 am

Thanks Leo for the forum, I am sure making our commitments public would really make things happen. Wishing you, your family and readers an Excellent New Year.

Mary@goodlifezen.com Says:

December 30th, 2008, 4:31 am

Hi everyone - I’m excited about the The Power of Less New Year’s Challenge that Leo has organized. I’m sure that’s going to help me a lot.

It made me think about how generous Leo is. He gives to us all the time in all his articles and in his projects.

I reckon now is a great time to show our gratitude to Leo. And there is a simple way we can show our appreciation and say ‘thank you’: through buying THE POWER OF LESS. Not only for ourselves - but for our friends and family.

I’ve just ordered 2 copies. Because I think we all need to simplify our lives - and I’m grateful to Leo. Want to join me?

Summer Foovay Says:

December 30th, 2008, 11:47 am

This is a great idea. I don’t do New Years resolutions - they are just setting yourself up for failure and blame. However, this method of establishing a new habit sounds far more practical. So - okay, I’ll bite. There is something I can do, that I’ve been wanting to do, that will fit even into just ten minutes a day.

Mumbai Says:

December 30th, 2008, 13:21 pm

How true! Action is better than words

Kimberly Says:

January 1st, 2009, 19:52 pm

Oh… so many habits I need to work on. It’s hard to pick just one.

Thanks for the link. I’m heading over there in a few minutes after I try and narrow down which habit to begin with.

Yogini Says:

January 1st, 2009, 23:48 pm

Thanks Leo:-) I’m determined to rejoice & be mindful every moment of my precious human life. And practice sitting meditation and cultivating compassion daily.

Following the words of Chogyam Trungpa:
“Real peace is nonaction; that is the source of all action. We have to learn how to be a rock in order to be a tree or a flower or wind or lightning or a typhoon. We have to be still; then we go beyond that. Therefore sitting practice is very important. (In meditation) we are not particularly training ourselves to destroy or conquer the world. We are trying to relate to the world in the same way that we relate to the birth of our first child or, for that matter, to our own orgasm — which happens, I hope, when we make love. Anything active that happens has some relationship to that very stillness. That stillness is not vacant or deadly; it is fully of energy, automatically.”

Mark | Life Empowerment Says:

January 4th, 2009, 14:21 pm

Thanks for setting us up for the challenge Leo. I’ve just posted my challenge on the forum and it’s to wake up at 6.30am every morning from Mon-Sat. I’d just sleep in on Sun.

And to make it more challenging, I’ve decided to buy a copy of your new book “The Power of Less” to give to some lucky guy/gal any day that I fail to wake up at the specified timing.

Hopefully I won’t have to buy more than one copy (The one and only copy that I’ll buy will be for myself) of your book!

Cheers~

Mark
http://mark-foo.com
Personal Development To Empower Your Life

Healthy Weight Loss Girl Says:

January 5th, 2009, 18:01 pm

Very interesting. Thanks for the awesome idea!

Vee Says:

January 6th, 2009, 0:53 am

Oh, I’m so glad I found this, albeit a bit late. I’ve set up a blog to track my resolutions (http://resolveed.wordpress.com), but I’m looking for all the support I can get to get started. Thanks for a brilliant idea!

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