Day 1: Plan your month. Set a goal or two, aiming as high as you realistically can attain.
Day 2: Track what you eat, how much you move, how long you sit or stand, what you do in the gym, how much you procrastinate or waste time, how much time you spend in flow or being productive. Get specific, get precise—it’s just one day, and you can handle it. Get a good baseline, so you know what you’re working with. Then try to improve on it every day forward.
Day 3: Try the fitness or movement pursuit you’ve been thinking about for a long time. That thing you know you should be doing, like foam rolling at night or doing a light mobility session in the morning, but keep putting off. Just do it. Feels good, right?
Day 4: Take a cold shower.
Day 5: Wake up a half hour earlier than usual, if necessary, and do some hill sprints before the weather heats up. If no hills, flat sprints. If flat sprints hurt, try an alternative like biking or swimming or anything that you can do to challenge your heart and lungs.
Day 6: Reflect on your approach to competition. Who are you competing against? Who should you be competing against? Consider that it might be a better idea to compete against your former self, because besting your former self is a reliable path to self-improvement.
Day 7: Take three walks. One in the morning, one at lunchtime, and one after dinner.
Day 8: Take at least 5 minutes today to meditate on what is right, true, noble, pure, lovely, and admirable.
Day 9: Have a big dinner party. Make something delicious (and good for you) and have some good laughs.
Day 10: Don’t just go to the farmer’s market. Make friends with your favorite farmer’s market vendors.
Day 11: Pickle something. It’s really easier than you think to make your own fermented food. Mix 50 grams salt with a liter of quality water, pour over garlic/hot peppers/shallots/pretty much anything you can stuff in a jar until submerged, place something on top to keep everything submerged (a roof of carrots wedged against the sides of the jar works well), lightly cover, and wait for the bubbles to start. When you like the taste, you’re done and can refrigerate the jar.
Day 12: Plan a camping trip for later during the month. Get your family and/or friends together, throw your gear in the car, and make a weekend of it somewhere nice and secluded. Leave electronics behind if you can, or at least limit artificial light after dark (red LED on the headlamp).
Day 13: Wake up and write down ten ideas. About anything at all. They don’t even have to be good. They just have to be on paper.
Day 14: Go for a PR in something. Pick a physical activity, and try to beat your personal best.
Day 15: Fast (if your personal context permits). Men, aim for the full 24 hours. Women, shorter will probably work better—somewhere in the realm of 12-16 hours (less if you’ve never tried).
Day 16: Grill something over open flame. Trying making your whole meal on the grill: meat and veggies!
Day 17: Stretch! Set a timer for every hour and do 1 minute of stretching every time it goes off. Alternately, you can just get up and stretch for 15-20 minutes first thing in the morning.
Day 18: Try a new recipe. Or just cook something new freestyle, using no recipe at all.
Day 19: REST. Go to bed on time and stay there for at least 8 hours. Sleep if you can, rest if you can’t.
Day 20: Read for two hours. Books, not blogs or social media feeds.
Day 21: Try to assemble the least expensive, most nutritious day of meals you can.
Day 22: Have a cup of good coffee or other special treat with someone close to you. Friend, spouse, child. . .
Day 23: Meal prep for the week ahead. Take an hour and get all the basics you need for the rest of the week ready to go. Roast veggies, start something in the Instant Pot, boil some eggs, prep Big Ass Salad makings. What you can cook ahead of time, cook ahead of time.
Day 24: Climb a tree, play on a playground or just play with your kids/grandkids. Be safe, just not too safe. Try to get the blood pumping.
Day 25: If you have any nagging health concerns you’ve been worrying about, make an appointment with a medical professional to get them checked out. Eating, exercising, and living well can transform our health, but we’re not invincible.
Day 26: Dance. Preferably with someone watching (and joining).
Day 27: Dream big. What’s your biggest, most ultimate dream that still has a chance of happening? Write it down, and figure out what you have to do to make it a reality.
Day 28: Forage for something in your yard, neighborhood, local park, or forest. Edible plants are everywhere.
Day 29: Grill some fruit in cast iron over open flame. The best fruit of the year is in season—peaches, cherries, nectarines, berries of all kinds—and yet most people don’t know that you can grill them over open flame and improve the flavor. Top with unsweetened whipped cream or coconut cream (you don’t need the sugar).
Day 30: Show gratitude for the awesome 30 days you just experienced.