the scrunchie challenge: change a habit!

adam at the monk at work blog sent me an email about his latest blog post yesterday. i quickly glanced at it and then just marked the URL for the post. it reads http://monkatwork.com/2007/09/21/no-complaints-and-contest/. because i only glanced at it, all i saw was “no complaints contest”.

hey, i thought, what a cool idea!

it turns out, though, that the contest is not about complaining – but i still think it’s a great idea. in the article, adam talks about how he’s been inspired by tim ferriss of the four-hour work week to wean himself off complaining.

you wear a wristband (i’m using a LiveStrong wristband i found), and if you complain about anything, you have to switch it to the other wrist (of course, you don’t get the pain element of a rubber band snap, but the hassle is effective enough as an awareness-builder, so far). the standard duration of a project like this is 21 days, but if you have a particularly troublesome time with it, feel free to extend it to 30 days or more.

a cool twist: you don’t have to switch the wristband if you come up with a positive solution to the situation you’re noticing.

after explaining this, adam asks,

so what’s your vice? is it negativity, complaining, or playing the victim? is it perfectionism, procrastination, or doubting yourself? do you defer to others instead of standing up for what you want, or are you chronically nice? [and another biggie, added by isabella: do you need to deal with your resentments?]
any of these would be good grounds to start a personal project. make your commitment, put on your wristband, and watch your awareness level climb!

okay then, adam! since you actually have a different contest going, i’m going to hijack this and turn it into a meme and a challenge.

and since i’m a firm believer of “walk the talk”, i’ll tell you what i’m going to work on. as i’m thinking about this i realize that it has to be a very personal habit, one that i engage in throughout the day, and which i support by negative thought patterns.

hmmm … this is taking me a while to think about … is this because i’m unaware or because i’ve eradicated most of my more blatant negative thinking patterns? oh, here i have something: when i feel ungrounded, i still often ignore that and just go on with whatever i’m doing rather than at least briefly switching to an activity that will ground me again.

instead of a wristband i think i’ll wear a scrunchie on my wrist. that’ll give me something to talk about! isabella wears a scrunchie

okay, that’s what i’ll be working on. today is the 22nd of september, so 21 days from now is october 12.

i’ll report in sporadically.

that’s my part. who else wants to take up the challenge? how about i’ll ask some of the wonderful people from the personal development list that got on to the list after i posted it? let’s pass this meme around and see what happens. and if you do use this meme, please let me know.

lorie marrero at the clutter diet blog
marion at herbal connection
max at max
patricia klingler at remarkable women speak
priya florence shah at soul kadee

of course, everyone else who wants to participate, please feel free. that includes you, my good readers, as well as adam and tim, and of course priscilla, who started the personal development blog list, and albert, who also invited me to participate.

can’t wait to see how this is going to turn out!

isabella mori
counselling in vancouver

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