I have failed to challenge myself in the past. August was beyond great for me and possibly the most important month of my life. September is going to flat out rock for hundreds of reasons. The main being the fact that I begin my epic adventure of walking through all 50 states of America which I’m taking a decade to complete (I’m positive the length will change as time goes on).
Perhaps this will inspire you to challenge yourself in various areas of your own life in order to grow.
I’ll add how I am progressing with each one as necessary so please check back.
1. Fast for 24 hours.
2. Enjoy only a few sips of alcohol. Once I hit that feeling I don’t like then stop (not even one glass of wine does it).
- It’s September 20 and I have not had a single sip. I may have one sip tonight!
3. Enjoy a few sips of coffee at a time. It messes with my digestion but I love the aroma and taste.
- I have definitely enjoyed cups of coffee but I have had way less this month then I had in August. I’ll pat myself on the back and do the best I can do avoid it these last 10 days!
4. Practice eating mindfully. Focus on my digestion and how I feel. Consider writing in a special food journal.
- I have been doing this but it could be a lot better!
5. Do my best to get my name written on the wall at the Wheel House in Wrigleyville, Chicago, Illinois (I’ll publish an essay about this at the end of September). In short, I ate a 2 pound hamburger with bun and a huge pile of fries in 45 minutes. I was the first to do it too.
- Due to financial excuses and the fact that I am allergic to the cold I will not be able to accomplish this but hope to before I head down to… Austin, Texas?!
6. Eat more local food in September than I have in any other month.
7. Continue planning my walk and begin walking for this epic adventure. Maine is first!
- I have continued to planning. I just added a pedometer to my shopping cart on Amazon. This will be the most simplest way to keep track of my miles while walking. I am no longer starting in Maine because of the fact that I have Cold Urticaria.
8. Walk 35 miles in a 12 hour period. I’m doing just that on Friday of this week which you will learn more about in the near future!
- I walked 19 miles in 6.7 hours instead. Fair enough? I did not have my TrekSport Vibram Five Fingers (yes I really do own a women’s pair…) yet!
9. Sleep in a tent. Has it really been more than a decade?!
10. Book a flight to Portland, Maine.
- This may be Austin, Texas instead since I have Cold Urticaria.
11. Play catch up with a few old friends from high school and college.
12. Brainstorm app ideas for my epic walk adventure. Do you have any ideas? Email me please!
13. Take the lead in the Walk to Mordor challenge. At this moment I am in 11th place out of about 170 walkers. I have walked 116.7 miles while the leader has walked 195 miles.
- The last time I updated my log a couple of days ago I was in 4th out of more than 200 humans!
14. Talk to local farmers and potentially visit one or three.
15. Volunteer for 4 or more hours at the Common Ground Country Fair in Unity, Maine. Will you be attending? Email me to let me know!
16. Dance and sing my heart out more than ever.
- Oh this has definitely been accomplished!
17. Improve my basketball game so I can kick my brothers ass 1-on-1 and outplay him in a competitive game in the future.
- I’ve been playing lots of ball!
18. Complete 20 controlled chin-ups and pull-ups in a row. My personal best is 14 for pull-ups.
- My record was 14 but I then did 15 a week or so ago and then 16 like an hour later. So close!
19. Complete 50 controlled push-ups in a row. My personal best is 40.
- I have yet to go to the max but I can feel that I am closer to 50 then I am 40!
20. Jump rope for 3 minutes straight. Will I die? I can barely do a minute!
21. Play 9 or 18 holes of golf with 3 clubs if the opportunity lends itself. I’ve played with 5 before and it’s quite an adventure. I may use a 5 iron, pitching wedge and putter. Or Driver, 7 iron and putter. What would you use?
- Won’t be done thanks to my Cold Urticaria.
22. Earn as much money as I possibly can. I’m learning day by day that the more money I make, the more effective I can help other humans live an extraordinary life. Thank you Robb Wolf.
- Thanks to YOU (maybe?) I netted $660 in a 40 hour and 4 minute period for 100 pre-orders of Primal Dining with Toad. If you have not pre-ordered this yet then you should probably get on that. It’s shaping up to be epic already!
23. Grow my Toadally Primal Tribe and Primal Smoothies Tribe to as many awesome humans as possible. You can do so if you click here and here. Oh, 4 links!
- It’s growing not as large as August but that was crazy awesome. I’ve been working my behind off and October is going to be set up to be ridiculous! Stay tuned friends
24. Help my first ever “client” one on one. Thanks to Matt Stone, I’ll allow YOU to set your own price. When I have this set up expect an announcement on this blog.
- I’m so busy and am thus not sure if I will be able to do this in September but I’ll still give it a shot!
25. Meet one of my 23 blogging heroes. Click here to see who my heroes are.
- I missed a perfect opportunity a couple of weekends ago but I have another chance this weekend in Chicago
26. Build PrimalUnite.com and set a launch date. If you want to help me with this much needed project then please contact me.
- I have a launch date set. Check it out! I have yet to begin building it. Just so busy!
27. Organize my youtube channel and begin uploading kick ass videos that both educate and entertain.
28. Begin the process of updating Toadally Primal Smoothies for the Kindle and Nook. The price is only $2.99 right now but will go up to $4.99 when the update (with more than 80 additional recipes) is published!
- I have done exactly this. I found an expert that can format it in less than 2 weeks. I’ll be put in the queue and it should be ready in early to mid October! So stoked!
29. Create a pinterest plan. Do you follow me yet? Click here to checkout my boards!
30. Read 7 books: They are as follows…
- Naked Calories - Finishing reading September 3
- Practical Paleo - Finished reading September 16ish
- Make Shift Happen - Finished reading September 9
- The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Paleo - Finished reading September 20
- Wrecked - Finished reading September 9
- How to Win Friends & Influence People - Finished reading September 14
- Kingdom Journeys – Began reading September 26
31. Read some short stories on WattPad.
- I’ve read 3 but am ready to read more on the train ride from Grand Rapids to Chicago!
32. Read several interesting entries in the World Book encyclopedia here at my parents home.
- I’ve read quite a few that interest me and will continue to do so. So much fun!
33. Read all PDF’s in my iBooks app in my iPhone.
34. Dominate my Spanish app. I want to become fluent ASAP!
35. Memorize all 50 capitals and states of the United States of America.
- Done by September 18! A perfect 50 for 50 in lightening speed.
36. Memorize the locations of all 50 states and capitals of the United States of America.
- I should get on this…
37. Shock my parents when they come home on September 10 and I go to Chicago by completely organizing the kitchen and the garage refrigerator and basement chest freezer.
- I ended up being locked out of the house…
38. Simplify, minimize, organize my heart out so my life becomes too easy.
- I am have been doing this more than ever in my life! It’s super exciting too.
39. Meditate in a variety of ways multiple times throughout each day.
- I’ve failed miserably at this. I continue to work too much and not rest enough. I still have time to begin forming the habit.
40. Disconnect completely for 100 total hours. This means no computer and no iPhone.
- Done! I did a grand total of 106 hours. Well sort of… you see I walked 19 miles and had to use the phone to be in contact with my sister who picked me up at Burger King. I also used google maps a couple of times and texted. I also used google chrome on my phone to call a locksmith because I was locked out! Other than that, I did not touch it! My computer was shut down the entire time and I was rarely on my phone. I win. I’ll be doing this again in October.
50. Sunbathe for one hour straight a few times. I won’t burn but I’ll enjoy the suns rays knowing how beneficial it is for my health.
- Oops. I’ll do this in October when I fly somewhere warm like… Austin?!
51. Compete in as many of Mark Sisson’s challenges as possible. Go to MarksDailyApple.com on Tuesday to learn more!
- I am referring to this. I have not done one yet but I am participating in the biggest one that will win me the coolest prize. That would be the grokfeast! Details coming later next week!
52. Sink as many free throws in a row as possible.
- My record is either 27 or 29. I don’t remember…
53. Lay down in bed to fall asleep before 9 pm for 3 straight nights. I wake up around 5 am these days so I kind of need to get in the habit of doing this!
- I have not done this but will most definitely do it when I return home from Chicago. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thurday during the last full week of September!
54. Shut down my MacBook Air prior to 8 pm on a nightly basis.
- September 1: 8:00 pm
- September 2: 7:57 pm
- September 3: 8:34 pm
- September 4: 7:54 pm
- September 5: 7:38 pm
- September 6: 4:40 pm
- September 7: Computer free all day
- September 8: Computer free all day
- September 9: Computer free all day
- September 10: Computer free all day
- September 11: 8:23 pm
- September 12: 8:20 pm
- September 13: 7:59 pm
- September 14: 7:34 pm
- September 15: 6:49 pm
- September 16: 6:25 pm
- September 17: 7:05 pm
- September 18: 7:29 pm
- September 19: 11ish
- September 20: 11ish
- September 26: 7:59 pm
55. Stand the opposite way in an elevator that is full of people.
- I am headed to Chicago and will be downtown. If I think about it then I’ll do it right away!
56. Hug 100 unique people
- I have a brilliant idea on how I am going to accomplish this. You’ll learn all about it sometime in October!!
57. Pay down as much of my $5,633 debt as possible without adding a single penny to it. I had around $7,500 at the beginning of this year. I have not purchased anything this year that I am now paying interest on. It was all last year and the year before. Win!
- This is going well. I think a bigger chunk will put down in October.
58. Wake up on October 1 and scream “hell yeeeeeeea!” while smiling because I know that September 2012 was the best month of my life and the best is yet to come!
- I have a feeling…
What are your challenges for the month of September?
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