How a Year-of-40 Challenge Changed My Mindset and Then My Life

When I turned the big 4-0, I marked the milestone by kicking off a year-long self-reinvention challenge, or what I called “Year of 40” (so original, amirite 😬).

The premise: Each month, I would choose a new interest or area of curiosity to explore. It could be anything, as long as it was pre-selected at the beginning of the month. I had to take concrete steps towards learning or exploring the new hobby or skill. By the end of each month, I could stop completely or continue on, as long as I reported and recorded my progress.

The why: I wanted to live more fearlessly. I felt creatively and intellectually stagnant, and I needed the structure of a challenge to jolt myself out of my chronically cautious state. If I was lucky and/or strategic enough in my choices, I thought perhaps by the end of the year I would “find my passion,” or my “Second Mountain.”

Did it work? Let’s just say that the Year of 40 definitely pushed my limits and did not go how I expected. I’ve learned many lessons along the way and my life today looks very different from when I started. Spoiler alert, I am still here 16 months later, working my way through my 12 monthly projects… which include learning to set up a website and starting a blog, in case you were wondering. ☺️

By looking back and documenting this journey, I am hoping to unpack some of the lessons I’ve learned, in hopes that my insights may encourage or help others design a reinvention challenge of their own! Stay tuned for more.