#YearlyRecap December 30

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What a year 2020 has been. I could make the focal point of an end of year RECAP all things COVID related. I am not going there. I want to spend my energy reflecting on what the various 30 Day Challenges in 2020 taught me. Each one brought much more positive energy than I could ever imagine.

As the end of 2019 came to a close I began to contemplate what would be the focus of my blogs for 2020. I was inspired listening to a Ted Radio Hour podcast featuring Matt Cutts He spoke on 30 Day Challenges and his experience sealed the deal for me to try it in 2020.

I am very happy I completed at least one 30 Day Challenge each month this past year. In addition to the personal satisfaction of completing various challenges I was blessed to not have to do them alone. Each month various people joined in. Some people I did not even know. I am not sure they realized I needed the gift of accountability each fellow 30 Day Challenger provided me. Thank you to each one of you!

So here is a list of what our group took on each month in 2020.

January 2020 -Started a Gratitude Journal and completed a 30 Day Dry Challenge with Maureen Metzger, Ken Ransom, Ron & Paula Roach. Happy to report that the Gratitude Journal is now a daily habit. I record 3 things each morning I am grateful for.

February 2020 -I was humbled when I realized I could not do (1) Military Push-up. I read that a male my age should be able to do at least 6. I began a 30 Day Challenge of Push-ups. I was excited to have Rebecca, Shannon, Kyle, Mack, Tito, Tony, and Carey all join me. Just like the Gratitude Journal doing Push-Ups is a now a morning habit for me. I have not missed a day since Feb. 1st. I now do some combination of 30 push-ups daily. Going from zero to 30 was a result of habit stacking. It works.

March 2020-The 3rd 30 Day Challenge of the year involved reading. I set a goal to read 8 books in one month. That meant reading two a week. I was able to take the new concept of home confinement from COVID to read about 90 minutes a day. I was joined for this challenge by Jeff Neelon. This is habit I need to continue to improve on.

I did add have a daily habit of reading the Bible each day. In fact my 2 year quest to read the Bible from cover to cover ended today. I started off in 2019 reading one chapter a day starting with the New Testament. In 2020 I bumped it up to 5 chapters daily and finished Malachi 4 in the Old Testament this morning. Over the past month to get finished reading the Bible I was reading 10-12 chapters daily. I am proud of this spiritual journey.

April 2020-For April it was a 30 Day Baking Challenge. This challenge really got competitive between Jeff Neelon and Tina Bullard. Just like the reading challenge I decided to BAKE 8 recipes.

My eight recipes were as follows:

1. Italian Bread
2. Strawberry Muffins-Thanks Sara Griffin-Greene
3.  Chocolate Chip Cookies
4. Apple Pie
5.  Yeast Rolls
6.  Congo Square Brownies
7.  Pound Cake
8.  Pretzels

I learned a lot but have only baked once or twice since April

May 2020-May gave me an ambitious learning challenge. I set out to complete 4 Online Courses/Certifications This challenge didn’t get finished in 30 days. I didn’t complete the 4th course until June 9th. I did the following:

Google Analytics

Transformational Leadership

Improving Communication Skills

Enneagram

May required a lot of time and made me brush up on my note taking skills. The big plus is it has caused me to grow and think.

June 2020-I took the learning concept into the month of June. I took on a 30 Day Challenge to watch a Ted Talk everyday. What a great challenge and I learned so much. I also benefitted from others joining me by sharing what they watched. Bonnie Biggs, Tina Bullard, and Jackie Clark all shared great video talks with me. Ted Talks by Simon Sinek, Malcolm Gladwell, and Apollo Robins were all fantastic.

July 2020-For the month of July the challenge was to give away compliments. I successfully delivered at least one genuine compliment each day in July. What made this month so special was over 20 people joined in completing the 30 Day Compliment Challenge.

August 2020-This month was one of my favorite challenges because the boundaries were so flexible. For August the challenge was to do “Something New” each day. Some of the people joining me (Tina Bullard and Jeff Neelon) really went all in on new and exciting stuff. Visits to tattoo parlors and hot air balloons all were fabulous to read about. Even award winning sportscaster Jim Lampley joined in the fun. For me it was the challenge of doing something that I was fearful of or not confident in my abilities. One example was Car Pool Karaoke with my wife.

September 2020 -September had a very specific challenge related to a morning routine. For 30 Days adopt six specific habits that are identified with the acronym SAVERS. Each morning I spent time in silence, using affirmations, take time to visualize, exercise, read, and scribe or write. I am happy to say that I have adopted all 6 as ongoing habits. I struggle with visualization the most and really love the new habit of silence.

October 2020-For October it was on to a 30 Day Challenge of Sharing. The sharing took on all types of methods. During the 30 Days I shared the following: Memory-song-CD’s-meal-my time-my talent–a chore-a walk-a smile-joke-clothing-wisdom-kindness-encouragement-a skill-a story-compliment-an adventure-a snack-lot’s of notes/cards-gifts-book/magazine-recipe-music-tool-expertise-thoughts-feelings-and love. I can attest the more I shared the more I seemed to be receiving.

November 2020-This month is was 30 Days of Vocabulary. I loved the morning texts I got from others all utilizing a new word in some clever way. I can honestly say Owen Thomas reusing one of my words BRUMOUS has made that dreaded weather condition part of my new vocabulary.

December 2020-Sometimes a challenge can be both taxing and fun. For December posting a photo each day was a blast. I loved that I learned about different photo techniques. I also was touched by the photos many others posted as leaders participating in the challenge.

Tomorrow is a New Year Eve and I remain committed to continue to find ways to grow and learn. I will talk about what I plan to do in 2021 then.

Thanks again to everyone who were part or read about the various #Coach4adayChallenge the past 12 months.