Hiking Tracking Sheets and patches for participating in the challenge.

During the winter I started a hiking challenge – hike 100 miles between the months of November and February and upon successful completion of said challenge, a tree will be planted. With my typical all-or-nothing gusto, my dog, Luna, and I embarked on this challenge. Admittedly, I cheated in that I walked around my neighborhood most mornings and hiked on trails only occasionally. For me, the end goal was more about being somewhat active during a time of year when I tend to hibernate – rather than strictly adhering to the challenge guidelines – and planting a tree. (Spoiler alert, my mileage was accepted and a tree will be planted in one of our National Forests).

The author and her dog all bundled up on a cold, snowy morning.

But I digress. During this time frame we managed to walk a total of 142 miles over 131 consecutive days. Granted, this was a great year to start this challenge due to the mild winter, but on particularly cold and/or snowy days we still bundled up and made our morning trek. It should also be noted that we started our walks around 5:45 a.m., meaning we walked in the dark with the occasional street lights, moon, and our little headlamps as our only illumination. This is quite possibly my favorite time of the day because all is quiet other than the sounds of our feet on the ground, the random car driving by, listening to Harry Potter on my earbuds, and now with the warmer weather the birds waking up and making their morning calls.

This wasn’t my first attempt at starting an early morning routine. This was actually in addition to my very early morning routine of waking up at 4. Research shows that most successful people tend to get up at 5 a.m. I am an overachiever. I also have been known to dillydally, hence the reason for my additional hour. But the thing that many people don’t realize is that I am not naturally a morning person.

It has NOT been easy. This early morning wakeup call is one that I have worked on, and struggled with, for years…..YEARS! This dates as far back as my high school days. I have tried all the tricks in the book: have an accountability partner, turn on lights, place your alarm across the room. I even went so far as having my alarm in a different room. Did it work? Sometimes, but most often I would get up, turn off the offensive alarm, and then crawl back into my warm bed and snuggle with the dogs before finally getting up at the last minute, thus rushing through everything and strolling into work late.

It’s actually only been within the last year that I have really embraced this routine and have been able to stay on track. I have become a morning person and I’ve found that I’m happier and more successful because of it. It truly sets the tone for my day and even though I’m tired, and sometimes still have to give myself little pep talks to get out of bed, I honestly crave that time to myself when all is silent and the rest of the world sleeps.

The winter challenge is over and after a brief spring break hiatus I’ve signed up for the spring challenge with the hopes of ultimately becoming a 365-day “hiker,” planting some more trees as a result of these challenges, and staying consistent with this routine. Don’t follow my lead and take 20 years to get your ducks in a row. If you want it badly enough you’ll do what you need to do to start now.

Tips to help you get started with establishing your routine

I talk about getting up earlier but these tips can help with any routine that you are wanting to start – getting up earlier, getting a walk and/or exercise in, eating better, drinking more water, and so on.

The author’s various trackers and checklists.

• Do what works best for you. Some will tell you to just start doing it. I need to mentally prepare myself to make sure I’m as successful as possible so I like to set a date (sometimes weeks in advance) and start on a Monday.

• Start small; progress not perfection. Try getting up 15 minutes earlier every day for a week and slowly go up from there or eating one healthy meal a week and gradually work your way up to more.

• Play games – give yourself points for every little thing, add them up and get a “prize” once you’ve reached a certain amount of points. For example, for every serving of vegetables you eat in a day you get a point. Go on a walk, get a point. Reach 500 points (make the number attainable but also something that will challenge you) buy a new pair of shoes (or something else that will motivate you to do the work)!

• Have someone join you – a significant other, family or friend, coworker, group of people. The more people you have cheering you on and making changes themselves the easier it is to stay accountable.

• Tell people what your goals are! If I keep my goals to myself I’m more likely to break them but if I share with people what I’m up to I feel more incentive to keep with it.

• One of the biggest tips I can give is don’t beat yourself up if you “fail.” Allow yourself some grace. It. Is. NOT. Easy!!!!

• Use whatever tools are available to make your routine successful for you. It can be as simple as an old school checklist or a vision board. I track everything (workouts, walks, inspiring quotes) on a calendar. I use multiple apps to track my steps, my routes, my meals, my water intake. Not sure where to start to find something? Just look online. There are several checklist templates, blogs, podcasts, and apps to help with most anything. Below is a list of books at the library to peruse.

• Have fun with it. If something isn’t working for you and you’re dreading it, keep switching it up until you find what works.

Nothing is impossible. The word itself says “I’m possible.”

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