In this introductory episode of the 30‑Day Healthy Habits Challenge, Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal, Nourish, Grow, guides participants through the first day’s task: selecting three personal focus areas for the next 30 days and committing to a minimal, actionable version of each. She explains the importance of consistency over perfection, outlines how to integrate a daily 10‑minute movement habit (with examples ranging from walking to yoga), and introduces a spreadsheet tracker that participants can copy from the email to log their habits and focus areas. Cheryl offers practical tips for keeping the focus areas visible (sticky notes, phone screensavers), scheduling the habit within the day, and using cues like timers. She emphasizes that narrowing attention to three priorities reduces overwhelm and decision fatigue, while allowing flexibility for different lifestyles and fitness levels. The episode also mentions a free mindful‑drinking challenge from a partner organization, providing a link in the show notes. The overall message is supportive and enthusiastic, encouraging participants to personalize the challenge, honor their bodies, and stay consistent throughout the month.
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Hey everyone, I'm Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal, Nourish, Grow, and welcome to day 1 of the Healthy Habits Challenge. I'm really excited to get this started and kick this off with you. This, if you're in 2026, this is the first year I've started this starting on January 1st, but the awesome thing is it's available anytime. So whenever you're hearing this, this is your day 1. So today is to choose your 3 focus areas. Uh, we're doing discipline as repetition, as consistency. It is just something that you learn over time. Time, but you do have to practice it. You don't have to be perfect, you just need to do it. And so today's habit won't take you too long at all. You're going to choose the 3 focus areas for the next 30 days and then write the smallest version of each one that still counts. And so this can be things for you— I mean, we have the daily movement, which is 10 minutes a day. So if you already have a really regular exercise program, maybe you commit to adding 1 day a week of some new movement, or maybe it's a slightly longer movement, or Or maybe your focus area is working on your spirituality, or maybe it is mindfully drinking if you drink alcohol. Um, I actually have some friends over at Sunnyside and they are doing a totally free challenge for this month too, that focuses on, uh, just being more mindful around drinking. You don't have to do a totally dry January. It can be kind of a semi-dry January. But anyway, they are offering that for totally free. You don't even have to put your credit card in. I've got a special link for that, and I will make sure that that is in the show notes and down below for you if you're on YouTube. So it could be, that could be your focus area. It could be, uh, your relationships, focusing on your relationships, taking more time to connect with people or to make sure that you communicate with certain people on a daily basis in a certain way. So really it's just gonna be whatever is meaningful to you. I want you to pick those 3 focus areas and the way that you'll carry that throughout the challenge is ideally you're gonna be tracking in some way. So I've designed a spreadsheet tracker for you and that is in the email. You'll copy that and then you can use it to just check off the things that you're doing. You can also use it to make a note of what your 3 focus areas are. And so ideally every day when you get the email and/or watch the video or listen to the podcast, I want you to have those 3 focus areas in mind and see if there's a way that you can integrate the habit that we're trying into those focus areas so that it's really meaningful to you. It won't always work. There will be some of the habits that you'll just be trying just to try, and they won't necessarily relate to your 3 areas of focus. Uh, but you're just gonna be mindful on a daily basis of these focus areas and keep those as something in the back of your mind that you're always trying to work towards. And if there's any way that you can integrate it with the daily habit, then that's even better. So this is all you have to do today, along with your 10 minutes of daily movement, because that's going to be every single day. And this is any movement that works for you. There's more explanation about it in the email, but it could be really anything— canoeing, biking, running, walking, dancing, yoga— just any kind of joyful movement. Ideally something that gets your heart rate up just a little bit. So depending on where you are in your fitness journey, that can literally just be walking around the block, or say, you know, that you're a runner. Maybe you make a new habit around 30 days to do something slightly different with that, whether it's increasing your speed or taking more days off if that's something that you need. Um, I want you to really— you just honor your body, but you're still going to move your body for 10 minutes every single day. So if you're already very, very active, that might look something more like on your day that's supposed to be your rest day, maybe it's just some gentle stretching or mobility work. So really you're going to Customize this challenge so that it works exactly well for you. Um, but anyway, starting with your focus areas, it just creates clear priorities throughout this 30-day challenge. It's gonna reduce overwhelm because you're just gonna focus on those 3 things right now. Nothing else outside of that. That's not to say that you don't have other goals or other things that you wanna prioritize in the future, but for this 30 days, we just wanna give clear focus to these 3 so that we can really give those a chance to take hold. And this clarity is just, like I said, reduce your overwhelm. It's going to, you know, eliminate decision fatigue because anytime there's a question, you just go back to those 3 priorities and you're going to make that very clear in your mind. That'll help you make your decision. And so you just spend less time deciding and more time doing ideally with those high priorities in mind. It should also just take a little less mental energy when you know that those are your priorities and you've already decided that's what you're focused on for this 30 days. It should make everything a little bit easier. So I would also like you to consider, um, if you're a person that this kind of motivation works for you, instead of just having it, you know, on your phone in a tracker app, and there'll be some links in that first email for, um, apps that I like and things that you can use. But it's also nice to just maybe see it in the morning when you get up. So if you always, you know, go in the bathroom to get ready in the morning, maybe writing your 3 focus areas for the month on a sticky note and putting it on your mirror or making it your screensaver on your phone, just somewhere where you're going to see it often enough that it keeps it high priority in your mind. And then also consider each day as you go through this challenge, you're gonna get the habit in the morning in your email. And most of these, there should be plenty of time throughout the day to fit this in. Like I said, it only, uh, takes 5 to 15 minutes, but also just consider what your day looks like on a daily basis and maybe kind of mentally map out a time where you're going to plan to do this habit. So maybe for you it's morning, lunch, or evening, or maybe it's a very specific time. Time of the day, you could set a timer on your phone. Like usually when you have a little, maybe you have a little downtime, you set the timer and then that's when you'll do the habit for the day. So that's some ideas on just how to integrate it and make it easier. But like I said, today, every day is going to be a very simple habit. It should take 5 to 15 minutes. So identifying these 3 focus areas, I think for most people it will come to mind pretty quickly. But you know, you can certainly take a little bit more time if you really want to kind of mentally evaluate where you've been in your life lately and what 3 areas could use the most work. So This in theory could be the longest day of habits, but it's gonna set you up for success for the whole month. But for a lot of us, we kind of already know which areas we should be working on. And so coming up with those 3 might even only take you 2 to 3 minutes. So anyway, best of luck today. As always, if you're having super challenges during this time and, or you have questions about the program, most of these things should be pretty obvious. And some of the things are a little bit ambiguous on purpose so that it gives you some flexibility. So as long as you are. Making, you know, having your 3 priorities, making those the thing that you're gonna focus on, and then trying the one habit for the day. That's really all that you need to do. So until tomorrow, good luck with the habits today, and I will see you soon.
