Today's Challenge

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Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is Thursday, you know… the fake Friday. My wife revealed to me early in our relationship something that I had known deep down all my life. She pointed out that Thursdays often feel like Friday, until you realize there’s actually one more day until Friday.

Today’s concrete challenge is to make Thursday special. Friday has a lot going for it, so don’t worry about it right now. Create a Thursday ritual that makes the realization that there’s still one more day until Friday hurt a little less. My wife used to get a facial once a month on a Thursday, and we would often go out for dinner at McAlister’s Deli on Thursday nights. Kids eat free equated to $12 feeding all four of us.

Let me know your new Thursday treat at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

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Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is medication. You might be thinking that I mean meditation, but no… medication. About 50% of people don’t take their medications as prescribed by their doctor. This means that millions of people are leaving health on the table that they could otherwise be enjoying.

Today’s concrete challenge is to get religion concerning your medication regimen. Even if you only take supplements, many of them require consistency in order to accumulate successfully in your body. You can use the Reminders or Calendar app on your phone or download an app that will pester you, such as Due (DUE) or Better Habits. I like these apps because of their ability to buzz your phone up to 10 times per reminder.

Let me know what approach you chose at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

References:

Medication Adherence: WHO Cares?

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Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is fidelity. I enjoy the word fidelity because of its association with the abbreviations Hi-Fi, Wi-Fi, and Cry-Fi. Okay, I made that last one up, but with 2 young children we get plenty of crying fidelity in this house. Fidelity is faithfulness, and there are innumerable things, ideas, and people that you can be faithful to. How can you show your faithfulness, though? Actually, showing up for people is a great way to demonstrate fidelity, but today we’re going to be using money to show commitment.

Today’s concrete challenge is to vote with your dollars. I like this phrase because it implies fidelity to the cause. You could vote for your relationship by buying something for your love; you could vote for your morals by purchasing from a black-owned business. Pledge fidelity today to something or someone in your life by voting with your dollars.

Let me know how it went at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

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Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is love. Few things in life are as complicated and, at the same time, simple as love. I believe love is our feeling of attachment. As a child, that feeling probably came easily for you. If you’re struggling with love, try making things simpler, whatever that means to you.

Today’s concrete challenge is to try a loving kindness meditation. UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center has a free app on both Android and iOS. Just search for the UCLA Mindful app, and it has a free loving kindness meditation in the Basic meditations section. Be aware that this type of meditation is most effective when practiced repeatedly over a long stretch of time, but it’s worth trying at least once.

Let me know how it went at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

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Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is rest. How often do you feel tired? Are you tired right now? If you’re an adult listening to this in the United States, there’s a 1 in 3 chance that you are sleep deprived. How would life change in the U.S. if people got more sleep? We might be more likely to treat each other well, less likely to die prematurely, and more consistently creative.

Today’s concrete challenge is to plan for your bedtime. Here are some tips on successfully transitioning to sleep:

• Put your phone or tablet in a place where you can’t reach it an hour or more before sleep
• Write down your thoughts and to-do’s
• Read a physical or e-paper book

If you still have trouble sleeping, you can try a very low dose of a melatonin supplement. Somewhere around 1 mg 30 minutes before you’d like to sleep is a good place to start.

Let me know how it went at concrete.win (WIN) /today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

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Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is loser, and it too is going into the waste bin of our lexicon. The word loser had its moment in the sun in the 1990’s, but it’s still a go-to term for someone that you don’t like. I feel the word loser is attractive because we want people that have hurt us to lose. We want them to feel like a loser, so we project that status onto them. However, this is the direct opposite of compassion, and it has the power to put you in a cage of resentment, whether it successfully hurts the person or not.

Today’s concrete challenge is to change your mental script. Think of one person that you might have considered a loser in the past and say to them in your head, “You are important.” If you feel prompted to do more, go for it, but the goal today is to rid your mind of the label, “loser.”

Let me know how it went at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

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Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is willpower. There’s controversy in the research community about how willpower works. Is it finite and exhaustible, or do we just need the right motivations to be able to push through anything? I’m guessing there are so many different situations in life that you could find both, depending on where you look. I do believe willpower can be built like a muscle, though.

Today’s concrete challenge is to do one experiment with willpower. Can you resist dessert? Can you make yourself plan tomorrow’s details today? Can you brave the elements to get some movement outside? Whatever your mountain is, you can make strides toward the summit through small acts of willpower. If you feel like you’ve run out, give yourself some quality rest. It’ll come back.

Let me know how your striving went at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

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Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is mistakes. We recently watched a movie called Timmy Failure: Mistake Were Made, which my kids thought was hilarious. I enjoyed its countercultural, Portland bent. It didn’t spend too much time harping on the topic from the title, mistakes were made, but Darryl Philbin does call out the main character for not taking responsibility. It’s so tempting to divert fault to someone or something else when things go wrong.

Today’s concrete challenge is to own up to one mistake. I’m guessing that things will not go 100% correctly for you today or tomorrow. You might talk over someone, get overly irritated at the people you live with, or ignore someone around you when you get busy. Whatever you feel you could have done better, take complete ownership and apologize, if apologies apply.

Let me know how it went at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

Full transcript here 👋

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

The word for today is forgive. Forgiveness sucks because it means that someone has hurt you, but it can also feel amazing when you’re released from the grip of anger and resentment. I acknowledge that some of you have been hurt more deeply than I will ever experience. However, you are still capable of freedom.

Today’s concrete challenge is to begin the journey of forgiveness. This can be through a small act like mouthing the words, “I forgive you.” You don’t even have to direct those words to anyone in particular. Let this be your first step of a thousand miles.

Let me know how it went at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

Full transcript here 👋

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is your life. This is your chance. Listen.

You might get a weird feeling in your stomach when you think about difficult situations and tasks because difficulty can be uncomfortable. Difficulty makes me want to quit, and many times I have; probably more quitting than was beneficial. Angela Duckworth, the fairy godmother of grit, says, “Enthusiasm is common; endurance is rare.”

Today’s concrete challenge is to try one hard thing. I’ve been chipping away at learning the Rubik’s cube for the past year and a half, and it’s a great combination of memorization and coordination. What’s your one hard thing that you want to try? Pick something that you won’t let yourself quit when it becomes truly difficult.

Let me know what you chose at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.