I recently read The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin. The book chronicles one woman’s attempt to increase her own happiness levels over a year. She uses a variety of research and techniques, which are all documented very nicely on her blog, happiness-project.com. Anyone interested in starting their own Happiness Project can use the tools she provides there.
I found the format of her project particularly intriguing, namely the dividing of her year into a series of what I call, mini-challenges. You may be familiar with the mini-challenge. If you have been reading my blog, you’ll know that I have engaged in one myself, writing a novel in a month (check out Nanowrimo). This was one of Gretchen’s mini-challenges. Some might call them resolutions. Others goals. But, mini-challenges are a bit different. They are small (or sometimes large), manageable (and sometimes daunting), accomplishments that people dedicate themselves to doing. They usually have a start and end date, and they usually involve some personal fulfillment or betterment.
In The Happiness Project, Rubin refers to her book as “stunt non-fiction.” A term she borrowers from a reviewer of her book. I like it. Because I like stunt non-fiction. Reading about how someone else had set themselves some fascinating goal, and then gone about accomplishing it. A.J. Jacobs comes to mind immediately, as does Eat, Pray, Love. Mini-challenges are a big part of stunt non-fiction. Whether it be the man who tried a new job every month for a year, or the one who devoted his year to volunteering, it seems everyone wants to challenge themselves.
The blogosphere is littered with mini-challenges. My own novel in a month is one. So is my participation in a weekly photo contest (MCP Action). Wordpress’s PostADay is one. More and more people are attempting a daily photo as well.
I would like to applaud the mini-challenge. It is fun. Engaging. And, I think, it works.
Here are a few of the writing mini-challenges that I have come across:
Post A Day: Self-explainatory WordPress Fun
Script Frenzy: Write a 100 page script in a month (April)
Story a Day: Write a story a day – in May
SmithMagazine’s Six-Word Memoir: Tell your story, in six words
Six Sentences: Write a story in six sentences
What’s your favourite mini-challenge? (Or maybe you hate mini-challenges. Think they are the scourge of society. I’d like to know about that, too).
I like the mini-challenge, and, as long as I’m enjoying them, I’ll keep trying new ones, as the spirit moves me. Maybe you want to join me?
Hi! I’m Kelly Woods, writer, mother & librarian. I write about beauty, creativity, green living and lifestyle design to help others live a life of inspiration, too.
Your post got me thinking about challenges. Personally, I have little use for mini-challenges. I’m too busy working on the big ones. And I would consider NaNoWriMo a very big challenge, which is why so few people complete it. Did you know that of the thousands who start NaNo every year, only about a third go all the way?
I don’t know what points the author of the Happiness Project makes, but I don’t see happiness as a goal. The point of mini-challenges, if they’re to have a point, should be to experiment and discover something new about yourself, including what is meaningful enough for you to take it on as a major challenge. Happiness comes out of having accomplished something worthwhile and satisfying. I don’t doubt that little challenges can also be fun, but so is going to an amusement park. Fun is ephemeral, and so is happiness if it isn’t grounded in something solid.
Thanks for your comments. I agree with a lot of what you say. The major challenges are the ones worth doing. For me, though, mini-challenges are like steps along that road. Writing mini-challenges, for example, get you writing, which is the major goal. I think they are good ways of getting people motivated, and starting something that they might otherwise procrastinate on. I think the deadline aspect of many mini-challenges is what makes them effective. Anyways, you’re right. They have to have more of a purpose than just plain fun to be most significant. But enjoyment can be a strong motivator.
I think the author of the Happiness Project would say that the process of attaining your goals brings happiness, not just the accomplishment. So, even if Nanowrimo writers don’t complete, it doesn’t mean they’ve failed, either. (Maybe the only thing mini about it is the deadline, making it short term hard work at least!) Anyways, I’ll stand by mini-challenges as part of a larger process. Interesting thoughts on the idea of happiness as a goal, too. I’ll have to think on it…