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The 40 Day Challenge

One of my goals for the blog is to help me seek and instill measures of discipline in daily routines that in some cases have never been done by me before. Achievement of anything worthwhile takes time, persistence, effort consistently over a period of time. I can look back and see where I have excelled when I have committed myself to various goals, endeavors, interests. I can also see past failures resulted from the complete lack of discipline, attention, effort, desire.

40 Day Challenges are going to be my way of setting some goals, some that might seem trivial to you, but in some ways are going to be things in the past I have never successfully completed to my satisfaction! And by successfully I mean consistently. Examples:

  • Exercising - I have never shown a commitment past a few weeks before.
  • Reading the Bible
  • Learning a second language
  • Eating right
  • blogging
  • remembering or relying on God is good times, not just bad
  • there’s plenty more

In each of the above examples, I seemed to have had a surprising lack of focus, commitment, and concentration. Yet, I could work and did work 16+ hours a day for more than 18 months without a day off building a business. That continued for another 12 months with limited breaks before I had had all I could take.

Why is it that I have been unable to demonstrate discipline in something as easy as taking vitamins for more than a week or so? A year later I am throwing the bottle out, with the vitamins in it!

The 40 day challenges are going to be my mini-challenges to see if they will help break this spirit of giving up so easily. They are going to focus areas needing improvement in my life. My first challenge is to post one entry each day for the next 40 days straight. I started February 29th, so my 40th post will be on April 8th.

Alan, who writes the blog Affiliate Confessions, recently invited bloggers to take a 30 day challenge. He wrote, “So I’m challenging you right now to make a commitment to blog every day, no matter what it takes, for 30 days straight.”

He found the exercise had great results and benefits for the blog as well as him personally. He wrote, “One of the things that has helped me blog every day for this 30 day time is that I’m NOT thinking of posts as an essay or writing assignment, but rather I’m trying to have a conversation with you ...” That’s a perfect goal for any blogger, and I will keep this in mind as I write for the next six weeks and beyond.
I have chosen 40 to be my standard for these goals. Why 40? Significance. Think about this:

  • Forty days and forty nights describes the period that rain fell during the flood
  • Forty days was the length of the period that the twelve spies explored the Promised Land
  • Forty years was the length of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness. This period of years represents a generation, the time it takes for a new generation to rise
  • Moses’ life is divided into three 40-year segments
  • Several Israelite leaders and kings are said to have ruled for “forty years”, that is, a generation … Eli, Saul, David, Solomon
  • Forty days and forty nights was the period Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness before beginning his ministry

And maybe on a lighter note: (from Wikipedia)

  • Life begins at 40!
  • American football uses the 40 yard dash to measure speed
  • most Americans’ work week is based on 40 hours
  • Kasey Kasem had radio’s Top 40
  • Interstate 40 is just north of me
  • Food Network’s show $40-A-Day
  • -40°F = -40°C — REALLY!

Seriously, I can not explain this number’s significance, but it evidently does indeed have importance or relevance. And on April 8th, 40 will be associated with my first 40 days of what I hope will be the start of a blog of future significance.