Beautiful humans,

I’m excited to share with you a little project I’m going to be working on this year – a series of 21 Day Challenges.

I was inspired by Leo Babauta beginning his “40 Day Uncomfortable Experiments” – a series of projects designed to push him out of his comfort zone. And with that, my brain was off dreaming.

These challenges are a way for me to try out different habits and experiences that I think will enrich my life.

For me though, I’m making it shorter. I’m far better at sprints than marathons. So I’m going to make my challenges only 21 days. And I’m not necessarily interested in making them uncomfortable – more just a gentle exploration.

Before you keep reading, can I tempt you with a wee podcast recording to go along with this blog?

Just hit play above, or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, PocketCast (or wherever else you listen to podcasts!)

Here’s my current list of challenge ideas:

  • 21 Days of No Shopping
  • 21 Days of Franzen checklist method
  • 21 Days of Walking
  • 21 Days of No Social Media
  • 21 Days of The Artist’s Way methodology (daily morning pages and weekly artist dates)
  • 21 Days of Orgasms
  • 21 Days of Painting
  • 21 Days of Meditation
  • 21 Days of Yoga
  • 21 Days of Holidays
  • 21 Days of No Phone
  • 21 Days of Journaling
  • 21 Days of Whole Foods
  • 21 Days of Blogging or Book Writing
  • 21 Day Media Cleanse (No news websites, celebrity gossip, Reddit, Buzzfeed, Youtube, TikTok or social media)2
  • 21 Day of Benjamin Franklin questions

These are NOT in order, and none are compulsory. They are merely a menu of options!

I might always log my challenges as I go, I might not. I might always announce what challenge I’m undertaking, I might not.

I may even do more than one challenge at a time!

I won’t do the challenges back to back. I will likely need breathing and integration space between them.

I also give myself complete freedom & permission to abandon any challenge (or the whole lot of them!) if they don’t end up being helpful to my mental health.

One thing I realised last year is this:

The Leonie of Today Is Not The Expert of the Leonie of Tomorrow.

Last year I had a bunch of goals in mind for the year, but by 3/4 of the way through the year, I realised they weren’t the right fit anymore. But I still felt hemmed in by my original goals. I don’t want to do that this time. I am making this optional on every level.

I can change my damn mind anytime I want!

I start on my first challenge tomorrow.

As you’ve probably guessed by my last sharing on Blogging > Social Media, I’m going to start with 21 days free of social media.

  • Facebook and Instagram are my biggest time wasters, so that’s what I’m eliminating.
  • I will still however use Messenger – I use it like a texting service with my closest mates, and it brings me nothing but joy. I can access messages using the Messenger desktop & phone apps without opening Facebook.
  • I’m not sure yet if my business profiles will post anything.
  • This is more about my consumption of social media – it takes up an awful lot of time & brainspace.

I’m going to start by logging the experiment here, for as long as that is helpful to me.

I’m looking forward to what comes from these challenges… what new insights they unfold, what I’ll learn along the way and what I’ll be able to share with you!

Big love,

P.S. Want my daily-ish writings delivered to your inbox? Head here, my treasure.