Did you know there are just 100 days left until 2024?
Maybe the first 265 days have been phenomenal for you, and perhaps you’d rather not talk about them.
Let’s put that aside right now.
Let’s look forward.
My question is:
How would you love to finish 2023?
What would you like to change or improve?
What if you’d run an experiment for the last 100 days of this year and took some action or step forward towards the change you want to make?
How much progress do you think you’d make in 100 days?
I can guarantee you that you’d be surprised by your results and glad you did it.
When it comes to starting new habits or making changes, for some reason, we love somewhat unique or meaningful start dates. It may be the beginning of the year, your birthday, or sometimes just the start of the month, as long as it feels special.
How about the last 100 days of the year?
How special is that?
THERE IS SOMETHING POWERFUL ABOUT THE NUMBER 100.
I often challenge myself or my clients to ‘100 days’ or ‘100 actions’ experiments because, to make a real impact, we have to stick with something for long enough or repeat the action many, many times.
Doing something 100 times usually creates quite amazing results.
You can find the internet full of articles and videos about the results people got from doing something 100x or for 100 days.
No cigarettes, no alcohol, reading, writing, drawing, doodling, coding, exercising, you name it.
One blogger wrote 100 articles in 100 days and went from 256 subscribers to her blog to over 2600 subscribers.
A young woman suffering from depression anxiety was able to stop taking antidepressants after 100 days of meditation.
Social drinker massively improved his fitness, work performance and bank account balance after not having a drop of alcohol for 100 days.
You get the idea.
So what could you do for 100 days?
What would you love to change or improve?
Here are my few tips if you want to take on the 100 days experiment.
1) PICK SOMETHING EASY-ISH TO DO.
It’s tempting to overcommit and say you’ll work out or read for 2 hours a day.
While exciting at first, it will become too hard to maintain and on some days, it simply won’t be possible to do.
Then, you’ll break the streak, feel bad about it, get demotivated and stop.
You’ll be much better off if the goal is doable and you can “easily” follow through with for the 100 days.
Instead of reading for 2 hours, just commit to reading five pages. On some days, you may read more, and that’s great. That’s a bonus.
But as long as you read the five pages, you’ve succeeded.
A small win every single day can be incredibly encouraging.
2) CLOSE YOUR EYES AND DON’T QUESTION IT.
Most of us are incredibly impatient.
We want everything NOW, especially the results of our work.
When it comes to the 100 days experiment, see it as an experiment:
I wonder what will happen if I do this for 100 days?
I always tell my clients to “close their eyes” and to trust the process.
So, don’t question or overthink if it’s working.
Results rarely come right away.
Sometimes you have to put in a lot of work before any signs of improvement. This is where most people quit.
So just focus on making your 100 days and less on the instant results. The breakthrough may happen on days 34, 71 or 99.
Be patient.
3) IT’S A WIN-WIN EXPERIMENT
Regardless of what the actual outcome is, if you complete the 100 days, you’ll be a winner.
Knowing you’ve managed to stick with something for 100 days will do wonders to your confidence and self-esteem. It’s a big accomplishment, especially if you don’t have an excellent track record of keeping new habits.
But it’s pretty safe to say that if you do something substantial 100 times, it will have a big impact on that area of your life. That’s without a doubt.
4) A FEW QUICK EXAMPLES
Considering there is not much time to ponder this (as you want to start today), here are a few quick examples of what you can do for your 100 days experiment.
Do you want to improve your fitness?
-> exercise for 15 minutes every day
Do you want to improve your health?
-> Avoid sweets, sugar, and/or soft drinks for 100 days.
-> Have a light dinner for 100 days.
Do you want to be happier?
-> Write down three things you’re grateful for every day.
-> Write down three things you’re happy about every day.
Do you want to be more confident?
-> Do something a bit challenging every day.
Do you want to improve your (public) speaking skills?
-> record a video of yourself speaking on a relevant topic for 1 minute.
Do you want to have more knowledge or expertise in a particular area?
-> Read two lates articles about it every day.
-> Read five pages from a book on the topic every day.
Do you want to improve your personal or business visibility?
-> post on social media every single day.
Do you want to be more organised?
-> Keep your desk (or a relevant area) tidy for 100 days.
-> Make your bed every day.
-> Spend 15 minutes tidying up every day.
Do you want to be more productive?
-> Practice working without distractions for 30-60 minutes a day (harder than you think).
-> Write down and complete 1-3 key tasks every day.
I hope this will help you come up with your 100-day experiment task.
So what would you love to do for the last 100 days of this year?
Day 1 is today.
If you‘d like to get my support through making the most out of the next 100 days,
then drop me a message and let’s find out if we’d be the right match.
Thanks for sharing this, 100 days till the end of the year got me thinking. I like your suggestion of making the goal Easy-ish. I want to increase my following on social media, so will post something every day till the end of the year!
Thanks for sharing Priya.
Push your social media presence for 100 days and let’s see the impact 🙂
Hi Tomas.
I actually really enjoyed reading this post. It is so clever. 100 days is enough to make a habit. I am thinking that to stick to the plan it would be good to spend that precious 15 min at the same time every day so when I don’t do it I will miss it as I got used to it . So my commitment is to tidy up one drawer or section of wardrobe every day. It can help my anxiety over finding things. Blimey , simples and I love it. Let’s get on with This
Hi Justyna, glad to hear you love the 100 days concept. 15 minutes a day will add up to 25 hours of work. A LOT can be done in 25 hours. Plus, there’s a good chance you’ll do more than just 15 minutes on some days. Alright, off you go, full steam ahead! Have fun.