I think that I’ve written before about the importance of taking baby steps to get to your desired point in life. I firmly believe that when you take a goal and break it down into actionable mini missions, it’s very easy to cross that goal off as accomplished and move on to the next one. If you’ve lived through tough times, then you would understand that taking small actions on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, were the keys to getting you to a better space.
At the end of January 2019, I read a blog post on the Budgets are Sexy blog that talked about 35 little things that can be done to improve one’s life and money. This post went live back in September 2018 and it was by sheer chance that I found it via the Rockstar Finance daily email blast. The mini missions challenge is built on the premise of doing 35 different things or little challenges that will add up to one great accomplishment over a period of time.
Mini Missions Challenge
The challenge itself is really simple. In fact, it’s so simple, you could probably complete the challenge items in less than a week. But, just to get into the habit of taking my time and working through each item, I felt that it would feel like a more satisfying achievement if I took my time. Plus, I wanted to experience the fun and excitement of the challenge for as long as possible.
Here’s how I took the mini missions challenge, and made one tiny step over the course of thirty-five days. I started the challenge on January 24, 2019 and completed it on February 25, 2019. To be quite honest, there were a few things that were not applicable and then a couple more that I did not complete.
Note: These mini missions challenges were not completed in order of the days listed.
Day #1: Opt out of buying 1 thing (24 Jan)
I love meat rolls from Purity Bakeries, and this morning I decided against buying one. I figured that I could survive until lunch.
Day #2: Pay a bill you’ve been putting off forever (06 Feb)
My bills are usually paid on time, but for some reason I kept putting off paying my water bill.
Day #3: Declutter one drawer (03 Feb)
The target of this mini mission was to clean a drawer that was filled with old receipts and random crap that I did not need. I found receipts from as far back as 2013 and old charges for cell phones that died many years ago.
Day #4: Pay off $20 of debt (13 Feb)
I did not complete this mission as stipulated, because my debt needs a bit more than $20. Instead I increased one of my debt payments by $20.
Day #5: Get rid of something you never wear! (14 Feb)
Sigh. This is an activity that always goes awry because I start to miss the clothing. Anyways, I removed a pink dress that I stopped wearing to work.
Day #6: Track how much you spend on *wants* (25 Jan)
My 2019 budget was revamped and refreshed. This is something that I normally do in December, but I forgot.
Day #7: Say hi to someone you haven’t talked to in a while 🙂 (26 Jan)
I spent the day with two girlfriends that I have not seen in over two years. It was a great day and I had a blast watching television, reminiscing and doing nothing.
Day #8: Use $2.00 to brighten someone’s day! (16 Feb)
This day was spent touring the island with friends. I donated $2.00 to the Hackleton’s Cliff upkeep efforts. This is one of the points on the island that has excellent views of the east coast of Barbados.
Day #9: Buy one stock (21 Feb)
Technically I haven’t bought the stock yet, but now that Fortress is accepting lump sum investments again, I’ll be jumping on this.
Day #10: Take a 15 minute walk and remember how fortunate you are (Bonus points for strolling through a cemetery :)) (29 Jan)
On this sad day, I went to a funeral and literally walked through the graveyard from the car park to the burial site. It’s always sobering to see how you could be here today and gone today.
Day #11: Pick up a piece or two of trash around your community! (18 Feb)
I took up two wrappers from the front of the neighbour’s guard wall.
Day #12: Clean out your wallet/purse/money clip (30 Jan)
My purse was full of bills, receipts and bits of paper. I sorted them and put them into my 2019 finances folder.
Day #13: Unsubscribe from all those store emails! (10 Feb)
I love Shein, but I waste too much time looking at clothes that I will not buy. I unsubscribed from their emails and a host of other business related blogs and website.
Day #14: Hide a $20 bill in your car in case you need one day (04 Feb)
I hid a $20 in a jar in my bedroom.
Day #15: Do something nice for yourself! (12 Feb)
The best thing I could do for myself was to do absolutely nothing. So, I took the day home from work. Can I have another one?
Day #16: Find one bill to tweak/downgrade/kill (01 Feb)
I made a plan to kill of a pesky little line of credit that annoys me endlessly. I decided that I was going to kill it using the debt avalanche method.
Day #17: Track/update your net worth! (22 Feb)
I woke up early in the morning and tried to get my financial life together. There’s always something that could be done to make things better – you just have to find that thing.
Day #18: Declutter your keychain(s) (Not Applicable)
My keychain has less than five keys on it.
Day #19: See if you are owed any missing money –> (11 Feb)
It does not look like I’m owned any missing money, but tax season is right around the corner and I’m going to government will have something to send my way.
Day #20: Thank someone who’s improved your life (28 Jan)
I sent a thank you note to Cici. She’s always talking about the importance of having systems in place. There was an Instagram outage and I still able to contact my followers via email.
Day #21: Return something you’ve been taking forever on! (Bonus tip: keep future returns in your trunk so you always have them with you whenever you’re out and about and remember ;)) (Not Applicable)
I hardly buy anything, so there is nothing to return.
Day #22: Finally use up that gift card! (Not Applicable)
Once again, there was nothing that I needed. So, that gift card lives on.
Day #23: Make a list of where all your credit/debit cards are linked. This will save you massive headache the next time you lose one or get a new one in the mail. (Not Applicable)
I only have two credit cards and I know who they’re with. As a safety rule, I do not link to my credit cards.
Day #24: Wake up an hour earlier and tackle a passion project/hustle (05 Feb)
I woke up extremely early and did some work on Odd Cents. Blogging can be time consuming, especially when you throw in the admin and marketing activities.
Day #25: Set a calendar item exactly one year from now to check in with yourself! List out some goals you’re aiming to hit, leave encouraging words, or simply ask yourself a question like, “Am I happy?” You’ll love hearing from your past self 😉 (24 Feb)
It’s been real. Let’s see where I am next year this time.
Day #26: Throw $25.00 into savings! (23 Feb)
I added $25 to my savings jar. This is one of the methods that I’m using to boost my savings this year.
Day #27: Shop your pantry for dinner (02 Feb)
I wanted to make some hummus, so I shopped my aunt’s pantry for a jar of tahini.
Day #28: Get rid of (or fix!) something broken in your life. An electronic, a lamp, a relationship? (08 Feb)
I tried to fix an old calculator that I found in the junk drawer that I cleaned out. I sourced a fix-it guide and all I need now are two batteries to make it work again.
Day #29: Forgive a debt someone owes you (Not Applicable)
I don’t lend money or assets, so no one owes me anything. I prefer to give away without expecting anything in return.
Day #30: Do a random act of kindness! (Daily)
I try to be a nice person all day every day.
Day #31: Clean up that inbox! (07 Feb)
My personal inbox was filled with many opened emails and expired offers. I deleted all of them.
Day #32: Do something you’ve been putting off all month! (27 Jan)
There were over 400 emails just waiting to be opened. I opened all of them and filed into the applicable folders.
Day #33: #1) Take out a dollar bill #2) Take out a sharpie #3) Write a motivational message to yourself on the bill #4) Stick it somewhere you’ll see every morning (31 Jan)
To complete this mini missions challenge, I had to print off a dollar bill. I wrote the words “Hustle, Hustle, Hustle, Hard.” ( Lyrics compliments of Ace Hood) and I stuck it behind my computer at work.
Day #34: Spend 30 minutes on a dream goal! (15 Feb)
Spent some time updating old Odd Cents posts. Time consuming exercise, but worth every minute.
Day #35: Give someone you love a book that you love (Not Applicable)
I don’t have many books that I love, so they were none to give away.
How You Can Join the Mini Missions Challenge
The best way to join in this challenge is to print off the checklist below and cross off the items as you complete them. The beauty of this challenge is that you can start with any item that you like. And, if you want to tackle two items in one day, go for it!
Drop me a message on Facebook and let me know how you’re progressing through the challenge!