I wanted to start to challenge myself in different ways, so this is the first of many challenges to move me out of my comfort zone and help streamline my day-to-day.

For this challenge though, I am not alone. The old ball and chain (otherwise known as my lovely girlfriend) has decided to join in. We decided to start on Saturday 1st August, and I got to pick the first months activities - I chose one minimalist challenge (to remove 30 things in 30 days), and to complete 15,000 daily steps.

Why minimalism? To reduce the clutter we have built up over the years. I would say I am quite good with regards to the amount of stuff I have (especially compared to my lovely lady), but I could still do better. By removing one item a day I aim to reduce the unwanted mess in my life, but also keep the challenge simple and achievable. For those of you who know The Minimalists, they have a 30 day challenge to remove 1 item, then 2 items, then three items etc. but I wanted to start with clearing away the easy stuff first. Over the next few months I might try the harder challenge, so stay posted.

Why 15,000 daily steps? I wanted to achieve a level of consistency in my activity and push myself further. My standard up to now was 10,000 daily steps, which was good, but I found too easy to achieve; it wasn't really pushing me any more.

So what are the rules? For the 30-things-in-30-days, items have to be disposed of and not replaced. If they are replaced, then they don't count. For the 15,000 daily steps, each day we have to achieve the number of steps before midnight. There are no carry over's or rolling daily averages, so 30,000 steps one day does not mean we can skip the next day. Measurement for this is via our FitBits rather than phones.

#minimalism #steps #15 #15000project