Tired of the same old New Year’s resolutions about weight loss, savings and productivity? Whether you love or hate resolutions, here’s a different approach: the Anti-Resolution Challenge. Instead of changing your habits, change your mind!

What’s the Anti-Resolution Challenge?

It’s simple: pick one strong opinion you’ve held for years and spend 30 days challenging it. No money needed. No groups to join. Just you, confronting your own certainties.

Why This Works Better Than Traditional Resolutions

Traditional resolutions focus on changing behaviors. This challenge focuses on changing perspectives. It’s not about self-improvement—it’s about self-discovery. And unlike typical resolutions that often fail by February, this challenge succeeds simply by attempting it.

Keep Rules for Success Simple

• Don’t spend a dime
• Do it solo (perfect for introverts)
• Jot down some thoughts when you feel like it
• Focus on understanding, not converting
• Stick with it for a month before judging

10 Zero-Cost Challenges to Consider:

• The Music Revolution Challenge: If you’ve spent decades hating rap, country, classical, or any genre, immerse yourself in it daily. Study its history, read lyrics, learn about influential artists. Your task: Find five songs you genuinely appreciate in a genre you’ve always dismissed.

• The Digital Detox Reverse Challenge: If you’re proudly anti-social media or anti-smartphone, spend a month fully embracing digital life. Create accounts, learn the platforms, understand meme culture. Alternatively, if you’re always online, go analog for everything possible.

• The Food Prejudice Flip Challenge: List 10 foods you’ve “hated” since childhood. Try each one prepared three different ways. Document your experience without judgment. The goal isn’t to like them—it’s to understand why others might.

• The Opinion Switch Challenge: Pick a non-political issue you feel strongly about. Spend 30 days consuming content from the opposite perspective. Whether it’s Android vs. iPhone, cats vs. dogs, or city vs. rural living—dive deep into the other side’s arguments.

• The Schedule Reverse Challenge: If you’re a night owl who’s judged early birds, live their schedule for a month. Or vice versa. Document how it affects your perceptions of productivity and lifestyle choices.

• The Entertainment Flip Challenge: Choose a TV or film genre you’ve criticized without watching (reality TV, superhero movies, foreign films). Watch the highest-rated examples. Your task: Write thoughtful analyses of why others value this content.

• The Fashion Freedom Challenge: If you’ve always judged certain fashion choices, spend time understanding their cultural significance and history. Create a digital mood board of styles you’ve previously dismissed.

• The Hobby Horizon Challenge: Pick an activity you’ve dismissed as “pointless” (video games, bird watching, puzzle-solving). Research its benefits, community, and complexity. Engage with it seriously for 30 days.

• The Organization Opposition Challenge: If you’re strictly minimalist, experiment with maximalism in one room. If you’re a “creative mess” person, implement rigid organization. Document how it affects your thinking and assumptions.

• The News Perspective Challenge: Get your news exclusively from sources you usually avoid (but still reputable ones). Your task: Find three stories where the different perspective added valuable context to your understanding.

Why This Matters

As we age, our opinions often calcify. This challenge isn’t about changing those opinions—it’s about remembering how to question them. It’s about maintaining mental flexibility in a world that encourages rigid thinking.

The Real Resolution

This challenge isn’t to change your mind about everything. It’s to maintain your capacity for change. In a world of increasingly rigid viewpoints, the ability to sincerely question your own beliefs might be the most valuable skill you can develop.

Ready to start? Pick your challenge and begin January 1st, or better yet, start right now. After all, questioning when resolutions should start might be your first challenge.  

Remember, our story is far from over — let’s start Enjoying the Journey!