Introducing 180Tough

It's no secret that my life has slipped a little out of hand recently. Lucky for me, I adopted a philosophy I've held dear for the last few years: When you're in a hole, at least stop digging. And so far, that's worked out pretty well to see me through a troubling couple of weeks.

That said, simply focusing on exclusion and cut-backs is'nt enough for me. It never has been. I need something to channel my efforts and energy toward, a focus and end-goal to sink my teeth into. Enter 180Tough: a six month challenge entirely of my own devising.

I am under no illusion, this is gonna be hard. Like real fucking hard. But if I can stick to my guns and achieve the full 180 days, I doubt I'll be recognisable, even to myself.

Inspired by Andy Frisella's '75 Hard,' 180Tough is an intensification on what is potentially one of the hardest challenges I've ever stumbled upon on the net. It's not a diet plan or exercise routine, nor is it a roadmap promising insane muscle growth or fatloss. Instead it's a challenge designed to test your grit, grow your sense of self worth, determination, integrity, and willpower, in ways many wouldn't dare dream of.

180 days is a long-ass time, especially for a challenge so restrictive, which is why I've implemented a 9 days on, 1 day off policy. (plus I'm into my Norse shit, so the number nine has a spiritual significance.) This is probably the largets deviation from 75Hard, in that Andy's challenge has no lee-way once you start. Mess up once and you're back at day 1.

With 180Tough, the challenge is split into 18 ten day segments, which should help with the sheer length of the thing. I'm going to associate each successful segment with a different woodland animal (think squirrel, badger, owl, hawk, wolf) and set them up as achievable ranks to flaunt and encourage yourself with. Still though, once you deviate from the rules of the challenge, your arse is back at day 1.

This rule may make 180Tough a lifetime challenge, which only adds to the beauty. Sticking to the rules of the challenge for any amount of days, regardless of the amount of times you fail to go the distance, can only have positive cumulative effects. From fitness, to knoweldge building, mindfulness to mental toughness, the 180Tough benefits will soon start to pop up in your daily life. Who's to say to what extent?

So enough rambling on, here are the rules.

180Tough Rules

1. Two 45 minute periods of exercise per day, one being outside regardless of the weather. Anything from yoga and walking to weightlifting and HIIT. Flip tyres or swing axe, throw logs or lift stones, it doesn't matter. I recommend warm-ups and cool-downs, and using some of these slots for active rest such as yoga and mobility work, but it's up to you. Just get it done.
2. Eat only whole, unprocessed foods. No sweets, chocolates, snacks, or fizzy drinks. No added sugars. Fruit, veg, cheeses and meats. Learn to cook some decent meals, grab an apple instead of some chips. No microwave shit or ready meals, no sandwich meats, no exceptions. You are what you eat, so eat well to be well.
3. Water. Get used to it! You're gonna be drinking 8 Pints of it every day, and exposing yourself to cold water for 3 minutes by way of a fully-cold shower or plunge.
4. Read 30 pages of non-fiction in any topic of your choice.Business, psychology, philosophy, history, health, biographies, world leaders, whatever! Just read.
5. Spend 10 minutes meditating each morning and night, and a further five minutes journalling straight after. Anything from gratitude, successes and set-backs from the day, a 'dear diary' entry, it doesnt matter. Just get yourself intimate with a journal and spend a few minutes focusing on your body and mind.
6. Absolutely ZERO alcohol or drug consumption during the course of the challenge. If you drink, stop. If you take recreational drugs, don't. Nine days on, one day off. No exceptions.
7. You fail once, even for a single little Haribo, your day-counter resets. No excuses, you're back at day 1. You have your 'off-day' every ten days to look forward to, so go wild. But nine days on means nine days on. Perfection or reset.
8. Post to Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook with the hashtag #180Tough every day to join in and encourage the community. The photo or post doesn't particularly matter. It can be a progress picture, your face, your meal from the day, an update on your challenge progress, any kind of insight at all. Fuck, it can be you cuddling your dog for all I care, so long as it's inspiring and the caption is relevant to us 180Toughers. We're in this together, show us what you wanna show us. Remember to follow the hashtags too!

That's it, doesnt sound too hard right? I'm going to set up 180Tough as an open challenge. Around it I intend to build a blog, brand, social media presence, and community, and overtime I hope to help create better lives for as many people I manage to attract online. I'm even halfway through writing one of those cool little persuasive 'landing pages' for the site.

I have 100% faith in the positive effects of these (what may seem) simple daily requirements, and look forward to building a community of '180Toughers' trying their best to forge better lives for themselves and those around them.

I start tomorrow, and will be keeping you all updated as time goes on and this idea evolves. For now, head on over to my Facebook and drop a follow. I look forward to seeing you over there. I hope you enjoy the challenge.