A short-term challenge can be a great way to start implementing a new behavior.

But what happens when the challenge ends?

The Challenge Quest

I see a lot of invitations to join 30-day or 90-day challenges come across my feed. A short-term challenge can be a great way to start implementing a new behavior.

But what happens when the challenge ends?

In my experience, the new behavior often ends with it.

You can do anything for 30 days, 90 days, or even a year. It’s easier to get through the inevitable struggle of difficult times when you have a known end point, and when you can see that end point.

And that sets up the inherent difficulty with behavior change to break sabotaging habits or create better habits. Presumably, we want to make those changes for life.

And life isn’t a 30 day challenge.

What’s Your Goal?

In the early days of my Fitness First practice, when I had just passed the 30-day mark, people would often ask me “what’s your goal?”

They wanted to know if I was doing a 90-day challenge or training for a marathon. But I didn’t have bigger end-goals in mind. I would answer

My goal is to do it again tomorrow.

I was looking to make a change for life. In each practice I take on, I seek ways to sustain it.

How Do You Keep it Going?

The issue of sustainability comes up in the other common question people ask me about my daily fitness streak and my other daily practices: “how do you keep it going?”

This is a big topic, and an important topic, that applies beyond the scope of my daily practices. It is something I think about on the micro level, when planning my day, and on the macro level, when looking at my life and business.

Unless we can do something in a sustainable way, we risk burning out. That’s a lesson I’ve learned the hard way.

The Ritual Revolution is my stake in the ground for creating change for life — it’s not just a program, but a movement for those who are committed to creating sustainable practices and living a life of intention.

The foundation-level program is focused on the tactical components of creating lasting change. I dive deep into the topic of “how do you keep it going?” with practical strategies I’ve developed in implementing my daily practices.

I shared a little bit on that topic today, in Episode 72 of My Circus Life, a livestream broadcast that I do after my weekly trampoline practice.

The Secret to Sustainability

Although I have many practical tips for “how to keep it going,” the truth is that, after a while, I don’t have to “keep it going.” One of the coolest things I have discovered is that, eventually, the balance shifts.

These rituals keep me going.

Instead of fueling my rituals, my daily rituals become the fuel that sustains my life and business. They fill me up emotionally and fuel my spiritual energy the way proper nutrition fuels my physical energy.

Ultimately, that’s the secret to creating a sustainable life and business: make time to do the things that fill your spirit and nourish your soul.

What fills you, fuels you.