While I don’t always agree with what they say, I am a big fan of Marc and Angel Hack Life. The duo is famous for creating dozens of lists of ways to help you live and grow, from tips regarding how you treat yourself (or not treat yourself) to the best ways to improve your health or follow your dreams. Their most recent list is one of my favorites. It involves 30 different challenges that you can take on to improve your life, 30 days at a time. You can be your own Morgan Spurlock, where your life is the experiment!

I am planning on scheduling a couple of these challenges for 2012. I love 30-day challenges, myself, and I have done many of them—though most of them have involved art or writing. I have also done meditation challenges. I have also performed the “one selfless act a day” on the list challenge before—in fact, I tried to dedicate an entire year to performing random acts of kindness every day. I didn’t make it every day, but I made it for most days, and hope to try again. I also already do “teach someone something new each day,” as I homeschool my daughter and am constantly learning and teaching new things with her, as well as her friends.

So I want the challenges that I take on to be as different from these as can be.

I love the “Try one new thing every day” challenge, but I just don’t know how I would go about it with a budget of $0 extra to spend! I guess I could try doing something a different way—like walking through  the house backwards one day, or eating meals in reverse, or something like that. I also love the first challenge, which is to say only things that make people smile (including yourself, I would think!) for 30 days.

There are lots of other worthwhile challenges, like treating everyone you meet nicely, or focusing on the positive at all times. That last one will be a difficult one to do for many people—including me, though I used to be quite good at it when it was easier to do!—and I think that’s the one I really need to adopt in February. As far as the “Create something in 30 days or less” challenge, my daughter and I did a similar one where we made something new every day for a week over the holidays and it was a real blast. If I did this challenge, I think it would have to be art-related, though; maybe I could finally finish one of the dozens of novels I have started.

Which challenge do you like best? If you decide to take part, be sure to share your experience.