It’s so insane to think that the semester is coming to an end.  Even though my challenges made some weeks more difficult than others, and sometimes feel like they were never-ending, they really flew by and opened my eyes to a lot of changes that I needed to make in my everyday life.  I’m the type of person that can easily make fun of myself or point out my own flaws without a problem, as you probably picked up on while reading my blog.  I tend to make jokes about myself to make people laugh, but when people point out my flaws I get offended and defensive.  So throughout this semester I really brainstormed about the things that either I make fun of myself for, or things that other people poke fun at me for, and each week I tried to better myself and prove that I can do anything if I really focus and put my mind to it.

If I’m being completely honest, after some weeks I was so relieved that my challenge for the week was over that I would go straight back to my old ways once I was done with the challenge.  For example, for the first week when I did probably the simplest challenge, not eating bagels, when the week was over I went right back to eating them.  I still remember how great it felt to eat a healthier breakfast without the bloating and regret at the end of my meal, but if this blog made me realize anything it’s that some habits take much more than a week to overcome and get rid of.

As the weeks of the semester went on, though, my blog started to become fun and I really did challenge myself harder and harder each time to keep up with what I was trying to accomplish.  It started to be more like a game and I got my friends involved to help push me through and keep me motivated and on track.  They got really serious about it too and would actually get disappointed with me if I would mess up my challenge before the end of the week.  Throughout the semester while writing this blog I learned how important it is to have a support system around you that wants the best for you and how much it helps when you are trying to reach goals that you have set for yourself.  For example, I could have never gotten through my challenge where I went to the gym every day for the week if it wasn’t for my friends pushing me and working out with me to make it less excruciating.  In the beginning of that week I was super determined to get through the challenge because working out more is something I really do want to incorporate into my daily life.  Towards the middle of the week though, I started to make up dumb excuses, and they were the ones to push me to reach my goal and reminded me how upset with myself I would be if I didn’t get through the week.

My commitment issues blog has taught me so much about myself and the things that do and don’t work for me when it comes to motivation and perseverance.  I’m always going to keep this blog in mind and how proud me and my friends were when I would finish one of my challenges, especially the ones that were super hard for me but I got through anyway.  When I did get through a challenge I felt so great and couldn’t wait for the next week to challenge myself again.  I hope you all were as excited as I was for my challenges every week, and that maybe I gave you some motivation to challenge yourself a bit and leave your comfort zone, even if it’s just for a week.