My last post talked about the need for daily movement (and for a lot more than I was getting!).  Since I decided I was simply going to walk more, I’ve been wracking my brain on how I will get those steps in.  And how I will actually do it – not just pay lip service to it.

Ah, motivation.  How elusive you are at times…

However, I did come across one motivational concept that I’m hoping will get me started – a CHALLENGE! (And I’m going to issue that challenge to you too!)

I recently stumbled upon a neat idea on the David Suzuki Foundation site called the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge. It’s actually a bit dated (from May 2013), but I liked the idea of it enough to give it a go anyway!

The premise appears simple: commit to getting outside for 30 minutes a day for 30 days in a row.

It totally appeals to me because I want to get more physical activity in, and also because I love nature and I recognize that time in nature also helps me reduce stress.  In addition, tomorrow marks the beginning of March and I’m feeling really housebound too.  The winter has been cold and long, but I’m hoping that’s coming to an end.  I’m challenging myself to just GET OUTSIDE! (Plus I figure if I’m outside, I will very likely be moving around and getting physical activity in – its too cold to stay still!)

Now there are a few logistics to this – it is still cold.  But the Scandinavians have a great old saying that “There’s no such thing as bad weather – just bad clothing”.  So I have a new pair of snowpants that I plan to finally break in. (I know if I’m cold, that will be a big barrier).

Snow is fun… right?!?

The other big thing will be accountability.  Challenges seem to work better when we make ourselves accountable to others (I know my internal motivation has been on the backslide lately… In the past, I always had teammates that I felt accountable to, but its time to figure out how to find that motivation on my own!).

I once read about some sisters who were challenging each other and they had to pay the other sister a toonie every time they didn’t do their exercises.  So maybe you need to find a buddy who you don’t mind coughing a bit of change up to!

I also have a friend on facebook who recently did a challenge; to keep herself accountable, she took pictures every day of what she was doing and then posted them on her page.  I really enjoyed checking it out every day to see what she had on there. I thought this was a great idea and I’ve decided to adopt it for myself! (Don’t worry – I won’t bombard the Nurture Her page – but here’s a heads up if you are friends with me personally! 😉 )

So, I CHALLENGE YOU to do the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge with me!

To be successful at a challenge, here are my tips:

1) Do a challenge only if you think you’ll enjoy it! You won’t do it otherwise!

2) Identify any and all barriers, and then plan in advance on how you will deal with them.

3) Make yourself accountable to others.  You might have to be a bit creative about this. 😉

Tomorrow is March 1^st, and I think it’s a great day to start a new challenge.  On your marks… get set… now GO!!!!!!!

And if you still aren’t convinced, here’s a list of stats from the David Suzuki Foundation’s site that might tip the scale for you:

-Stress is relieved within minutes of exposure to nature (as measured by muscle tension, BP and brain activity)

-Memory performance and attention span improves 20% after spending an hour interacting with nature

-Levels of cancer fighting white blood cells increase 50% after spending 2 or more consecutive days in nature

“Contact with nature is an affordable, accessible, and equitable form of preventative and restorative medicine”!

And feel free to comment below if you’d like some help being accountable! 😉