No Social Media Day 31 - Last Day

   Well, here we are at day 31. The last day of the No Social Media challenge. It's been an interesting 31 days and I do believe it has positively effected my life. If you've never gone 30 days without being connected to social media I highly recommend it, if for nothing else than to repriortize your life. With that being said, I believe the following video will sum up my feelings of connecting back with the social world tomorrow.....

   Now, I've got a fresh 30 days ahead of me awaiting the next challenge. So what's next? Well I've been giving it a good deal of thought and I've had quite a few interesting ideas to sort through. Should it be something physical, something "green," something borrowed, something blue, wait a second..... that's a wedding isn't it? Anyway, after all of the sorting, and a good bit of this, I've landed on something spiritual, and possibly physical. I've been an on-again off-again bible reader for as long as I can remember. And no, not this bible....
although I may have to pick that one up as well. Periodically I'll pick up my holy dust collector, brush it off, read it for a few days, and then put it back on the shelf. But what if I committed to reading it every day for 30 days? What would happen? Would I be a more humble and caring person? More committed? Would I be more patient, especially with my children? Would I just be confused? Would it change me for the better? Would I change at all? These are all questions I intend to find the answers to over the next thirty days! Follow me and/or join me and let me know how your journey goes.

Your Challenger,
Steven

No Social Media Day 21

   So here we are at day 21 of the No Social Media challenge, woo-hoo! Sorry for not posting anything between day 1 and now, but since I haven't been on any social media I haven't really been on the computer. That really makes me realize how much of my computer time is spent on social media sites, too much. Although I did have a question come up. I found myself on Pinterest one day and I "liked" a post. Immediately after clicking the like button I thought, "Crap, is Pinterest considered social media?" Since I wasn't sure I closed it out and haven't been back on there since.
   I can't say that I haven't missed my Facebook and Twitter time during these 21 days, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be. The first few days were tough, but once those were out of the way things became a lot smoother.
   I filled my time with other things that I'd been neglecting. I've been focusing more on my upcoming triathlon and getting my training and nutrition dialed in for that. I've caught up on a couple of magazines that had been collecting dust. I managed to read two books that I'd been interested in for a while. Not to mention the quality play time I've gotten with my girls and the great workouts I've gotten to complete.
   With the end of this challenge coming up I've been contemplating what to do for the next 30 day challenge. So far I haven't gotten any suggestions so if you have any ideas let me know. Otherwise, stay tuned to find out!

Your Challenger,
Steven

No Social Media Day 1

   On day one of the No Social Media Challenge, this is the song that comes to mind as I sip my morning coffee. On a normal day, I would get out of bed, unplug my phone from the charger, and immediately check the display to see if I'd received any Facebook or Twitter notifications during the night. If I did, I would check them and respond to any that required it. Later in the morning, I would do a full check up of both Facebook and Twitter while sipping my morning coffee.
   This morning, obviously, was different. Last night, after performing one last check of each site, I logged out of the applications on my phone so even if I accidentally tapped one, nothing would come up but a log in screen. So of course, there were no notifications this morning (insert sad face here). When sitting down to sip my coffee it was hard to not navigate to Facebook or Twitter. Until today I'd never really stopped to think about, and realize, how much of my daily routine revolved around social media. How much time I spend there. And it's just 9am!
   As I imagined, the first day is a little tough. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel depressed, or that my life is lacking in any way, it's just a change of routine. And if you know me, you know I'm all about routine! I look forward to seeing how things change along the way. Who knows, maybe I'll replace my social media time with bible time and see if I'm a changed man in a month. We shall see.
   I won't be checking in every day, because that would get pretty boring for you I'm sure, but I will check in at least once per week to keep you updated. So, until next time.........

Your Challenger,
Steven

The Beginning

   The idea of the 30 day challenge came to me during the Lent season of February 2012 to April 2012. My lovely wife stated that she was going to give up chocolate for Lent. I, not to be outdone, declared to not only give up chocolate, but ALL sweets! The only exception would be things that have positive health benefits like raw organic unfiltered honey and fruit.
   The first couple of weeks were rough! Being a personal trainer I didn't eat that many sweets to begin with, but the fact that I couldn't have the occasional treat was tough. I think it was more of a mental anguish than anything physical. After a couple of weeks of replacing any treat temptation with a piece of fruit it became kind of nice. I looked forward to my apple or fresh pineapple after dinner instead of a cookie or some other sugary treat.
   Easter Sunday I celebrated my victory of lasting the entire Lent season with no sweets by taste testing the spread of desserts. After which I, of course, felt horrible. The Lent season being more around 46 days than 30, it made me wonder what else I could accomplish in just 30 days.
   With a fresh April month upon us I decided for the month of April I would commit to doing 50 burpees and a minimum one mile run every day on top of my normal workout routine. The April challenge started off great! I was running and doing burpees like nobody's business. That is until I got hit with a nasty stomach virus. It put me down for two days. During those two days I did manage 30 burpees somehow, but that's it. As soon as I could get my head out of the trashcan though I was back on schedule and I made up for lost progress. The first 10 days I stayed a little sore, but after that either my body adapted to the additional demands being placed on it, or things just went numb. Either way I was moving forward with the challenge. Not counting today, since I've done my obligatory burpees and run for today, I have only four days left of this challenge. I must admit that after this is over it will be some time before I do another burpee, but I may keep the one mile minimum run up.
   So what's next? What does May hold in store? Well I've been thinking on it and I know it needs to be something that is challenging to me. Something that on a normal day I wouldn't give up. Every day without fail I do two things. (1) I check my Facebook and (2) I check my Twitter. Social media has become such a big part of our lives, mine included, I wonder if I could go the month of May without logging into my social media accounts. Would it be hard to not have constant communication with my online friends and family? I would still have my cell phone so I could call and text. But would I be able to get by with not knowing what everyone was up to? Not being "in the loop?" I suppose we're about to find out. It is, after all, only 30 days.

The Rules
What I cannot do:
-I cannot log on to Facebook or Twitter for the entire month of May.
-If I can't take it and end up logging on for any reason the challenge is over and I lose.
-I cannot have someone log into their account and check stuff for me.
-I cannot post to the sites via text message or any other means.
-I cannot click the "share to Facebook/Twitter" buttons on any article, picture, etc.
It will be complete Facebook and Twitter silence!

What I can do:
-I can log onto blogger (here) to post updates.
-That is all.

Let the challenge BEGIN! Well, in five days. So make sure you sign up for this blog to receive the updates. You can sign up to receive them by e-mail  as well. That way you'll be updated on my progress, or lack there of, when I post it.

Feel free to offer words of encouragement, or words of any matter, but keep it clean! Also, I'm planning on keeping the challenge series going for the entire year of 2012, so if you have ideas for future challenges feel free to send them to me.

Your Challenger,
Steven