I’ve been thinking about why challenges are so appealing to people. I see them everywhere. The Whole 30 diet plan. Dietbet. The Beachbody challenge.
I am not arguing for or against challenges, I am just curious about them. I find it fascinating that they have become so popular, and I am interested to know why people do them, and if they truly get what they hope to from doing a challenge.
Do we want to do them to prove to ourselves that we can? I see how there can be confidence built by setting a goal and accomplishing it. But, if the goal is somewhat arbitrary, or the activities of the challenge aren’t sustainable, do we end up accomplishing what we hope for? Or is the possible gained confidence enough?
Do we like challenges because they have an endpoint, and so it releases us from making long-term change? Or is that too cynical of me? Maybe sometimes that is true. Maybe sometimes it’s not.
When I think about them for myself, I am generally not inclined to do them. It’s not fear. I honestly don’t doubt too much that I could do a challenge and complete it if I wanted to. But, unless it already fits in with something I intend to do long-term, I just see them as a distraction that takes me off course. A new, shiny object.
For example, my workplace held a team competition for active minutes, steps and weight loss. Cool. I signed up because I was already doing those things, and it was fun to be part of a team and see how we did. Didn’t make me change what I do, but made what I already do more entertaining and team-oriented.
But, you aren’t going to see me signing up for a P90X type challenge because I wouldn’t sustain it, and wouldn’t be interested to sustain it over the long term. I don’t doubt that people who did got stronger and saw results, but what about after? Did it get them closer to a life they wanted to live, or disrupt a way of finding sustainability? I suppose it could be either, depending on what they desired their life to look like.
Perhaps the thing is to really determine is our why for doing the challenge, what we want to accomplish with the challenge, and our plan for after we complete it. I wonder how many challenges we do with these things in mind, and how many we do because they just sound cool. And where do we find ourselves afterwards?
Have you done challenges? What has your experience been? I’d love to know your take.
Chrysti
I used to do ALL of the challenges. When they went well, I felt like I was so in control. When they went poorly, it gave me an excuse to go off the rails. In the long run, none of them were really sustainable; too much pressure and too many rules.
Teresa Keever
Thanks for sharing this experience, Chrysti. I can totally appreciate how this can be the situation. I guess the best case in any of the scenarios is that we learn something that helps us in the process.