The 7-Day Wellness Challenge
Challenges are a great way to get us to take action, stay consistent, and give us a kickstart towards the things we want to achieve.
That’s why we’ve decided to create the 7-day wellness challenge to inspire, encourage, and motivate you to take care of your health and wellbeing.
Check out our inspiring video where others share their experience and read about the results, common obstacles, and successes throughout this challenge.
Contents
Video of the 7-Day Wellness Challenge
What is the 7-Day Wellness Challenge?
The Results of Those Who Attempted the 7-Day Wellness Challenge
What Were the Common Obstacles and Challenges for Participants
How to Take Part in the 7-Day Wellness Challenge?
Video of the 7-Day Wellness Challenge
What is the 7-Day Wellness Challenge?
The 7-day wellness challenge consists of completing 7 actions every day over the course of 7 days.
These actions are:
1. No Alcohol
After a long and stressful day or week, many individuals’ resort to a glass of wine, beer, or some other form of alcohol.
According to Drinkaware approximately 55% of males and 41% of females report drinking at least once a week.
Although just one or two glasses of wine may seem harmless, alcohol can impact our health negatively more than we realise.
The WHO reports that worldwide, 3 million deaths every year are a result of the harmful use of alcohol. This represents 5.3% of all deaths.
Regularly drinking alcohol can increase blood pressure and cholesterol, it can weaken the immune system, negatively impact sleep quality, influence bad decisions, contribute to depression, and more.
That’s why in this challenge we’re having a complete detox.
2. 1st Hour No Phone
Some of us are ruled by our mobile phones.
They’re the last thing we look at before going to sleep, and the first thing we look at upon waking.
Waking up instantly and seeing notifications on our phone can contribute to feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression.
Some of us jump straight onto social media and end up mindlessly scrolling.
An act known as doomscrolling.
A study from the National Library of Medicine has linked hours scrolling social media with depression and other mental health issues among adolescence.
In this challenge, the aim is to not go on your phone for the first hour of the morning.
In most people’s cases, an hour away from your phone isn’t going to cause any issues.
Whether it’s putting your phone on flight mode or using an alarm to wake you up, starting the day without technology is a great way to get started.
3. Positive Affirmation
A positive affirmation is a short and powerful statement intended to consciously influence your thoughts in a positive way.
This can include statements like “Today is going to be a great day” or “I am strong, happy and healthy”.
According to Psychology Today, research suggests that affirmations can improve life satisfaction and wellbeing.
Many individuals participate in negative self-talk and this can have the opposite effect.
In fact, according to the National Science Foundation, as much as 80% of our thoughts are negative.
In this challenge we say our positive affirmation out loud so that we can hear it, speak it and feel it.
This is aimed to set us up in a good mood for the day.
4. Gratitude
Gratitude is the quality of being thankful and the readiness to show appreciation.
Research shows that those who express gratitude live happier and healthier lives.
According to Harvard Health, two psychologists carried out a study on the impact of gratitude.
They asked all participants to write sentences each week focusing on specific topics.
Group one wrote about things they were grateful for.
Group two wrote about daily irritations.
Group three wrote about events that affected them, whether positive or negative.
After 10 weeks, those who wrote about the things they were grateful were more optimistic and felt better about their lives.
In this challenge, we make gratitude a daily practice, to focus on the positives in our lives, rather than the negatives.
Harnessing Gratitude is one of our most popular corporate wellbeing workshops and this challenge allows individuals to see how powerful gratitude can be.
5. 30 Minutes of Movement/Exercise
The human body was built to move!
With many of us working from offices or from home it can often mean we neglect movement.
Exercise has so many positive health benefits that it’s important to make it a part of our daily practice.
Even a walk to get the blood flowing can be beneficial.
According to the NHS, those who exercise regularly can reduce their risk of the following health conditions:
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Heart Disease
- Colon Cancer
- Depression
- Dementia
- Osteoarthritis
- Breast Cancer
- And more!
In this challenge we ensure that we get at least 30 minutes of exercise or movement every single day.
Whether it’s going for a walk, taking an online yoga class, going to the gym, or a team sport.
Movement is important and that’s why it’s included in this challenge.
6. Reading
Mark Twain, a famous humourist has a quote that says “A person who does not read good books has no advantage over a person who cannot read”.
Reading has so many benefits, some of those include:
- Mental stimulation
- Stress Reduction
- Gaining Knowledge
- Improving Vocabulary
- Improving Memory
- Gaining Stronger Analytical Thinking Skills
- Improved Focus
- Better Writing Skills
- And more!
As someone who reads regularly, and runs a book review YouTube channel called The Power of Pages, I cannot express how beneficial reading has been for my life.
In this challenge, the goal is to read for a minimum of 15 minutes.
Some individuals opt to read at the start of their day, as part of a commute, or just before bed.
The goal is to complete 15 minutes each day.
7. Two Litres of Water
The human body is approximately 60% water and we must be staying hydrated to help it function efficiently.
Staying hydrated has many benefits, including:
- Regulate body temperature
- Lubricate and cushion joints
- Protect sensitive tissues
- Remove waste through urination
- Hydrate skin
- Aid with Kidney function
- And more!
The institute of medicine recommends 2.7 litres of water for women and 3.7 litres for men.
However, we do get water from food and other liquids so this number can in most cases be reduced.
That’s why we have added drinking two litres of water to this challenge.
From the moment you start your day, to the moment you finish your day, aim to drink two litres of water.
The Results of Those Who Have Attempted the 7-Day Wellness Challenge
We recently reached out to our network and asked some of them to join us on the 7-day wellness challenge.
After the challenge was completed, we decided to run a survey to see how beneficial it was and the survey results were heartwarming.
Here are the participation survey results:
- 100% said they found the challenge beneficial to their health and wellness.
- 61% opted to use our accountability sheet to track their progress
- 67% managed to complete a minimum of 40/49 of the weekly tasks
- 100% were inspired to continue some of the daily actions
- 100% found our daily email reminders helpful
We also found that 80% of people who used the accountability sheet completed at least 40/49 of the tasks.
100% of participants who used the accountability sheet completed at least 30/49.
On the other hand, only 50% of those who didn’t use the accountability sheet completed at least 40/49 of the tasks.
The results show that the accountability sheet had a positive influence on completing the daily tasks.
Some of the positive comments from participants in this challenge were:
“Excellent challenge that made a real difference to my month”
“Was great to push me into more positive habits! This was a great new year Kickstarter!”
“Thank you for this challenge, it inspired me to set small goals and be happy with quick achievements”
“It definitely helped me to get to the gym on occasions and to take time out to be thankful.”
What Were the Common Obstacles and Challenges for Participants
Each person had a different experience during their 7-day wellness challenge.
Here are some of the reasons behind why people struggled with particular parts of the challenge.
No Alcohol
For some, this was extremely easy. Of course, if you don’t drink alcohol or only drink socially this can be an easy tick on the sheet.
However, for others, this proved to be difficult.
Especially those who have client meetings where alcohol is typically involved, it was difficult to avoid.
Some found it difficult to avoid a glass of wine at the end of the week, and this may just be due to habit.
All participants reported that not drinking or reducing alcohol was a positive part of their week and it helped some to realise that they don’t need to consume so much.
1st Hour No Phone
The biggest reason for not being able to tick off this box for most was work commitments.
Some participants relied on their phone for work and therefore struggled to avoid looking at their phone for the first hour of their day.
However, those who managed to avoid using their phone for the first hour reported that it was a great start to the day.
“It was nice to not be scrolling on social media and take some time for myself” reported one of the attendees.
Positive Affirmations
Believe it or not, some people struggle to say kind and positive things to themselves.
Some found it difficult to think of different affirmations each day and others found it awkward to say them out loud.
However, participants reported that it was nice to speak some positivity into their day, particularly those who experience negative self-talk.
One participant said “The affirmation is really good, I think I need that in my life. I’m very positive outwardly, but inside I can be quite negative, it’s a great idea, thanks”
Gratitude
Participants didn’t express any real challenges with this part of the challenge.
Many of the participants mentioned that this was a nice part of the challenge with some stating that it was their favourite.
One of the comments about this part of the challenge was “I have really enjoyed sending someone a message of gratitude each day, that’s been my favourite part”
30 Minutes of Movement or Exercise
This challenge helped to motivate many of the participants to get active.
Some were now making sure that they included a lunch time walk into their day or a trip to the gym.
A participant said “I wasn’t going to go to the gym today, but because of this challenge I forced myself to go and I feel so much better for it. Thank you!”
One of the challenges people found with this part was ensuring to schedule exercise as part of their day.
If they hadn’t planned it into their day, it was more difficult to find time to complete it.
Reading
This challenge helped many people to pick up books that they’ve been meaning to read or have stopped reading.
The challenge most people found was actually dedicating a specific time to read.
Some decided to read just before bed, others opted to as part of their commute.
One of the comments regarding reading was “I have not read a book in ages, I loved being able to sit down for 15 minutes, that was my favourite task”
Two litres of Water
Some individuals struggled with this and found it hard to keep track of how much water they drank.
Individuals were encouraged to get a water bottle with the measurements and timings on it, but not many did.
Some of the participants realised that it was more difficult than they thought to focus on this.
One participant said “Two litres of water evaded me the whole week, but I did drink more water because I was more conscious”
How to Take Part in the 7-Day Wellness Challenge?
To take part in the 7-day wellness challenge, download our free wellness challenge template.
Author
Tyler Lowe – Health & Wellbeing Speaker
BSc Sport & Exercise Rehabilitation
