Hello gentlemen.

The time has come for us to sponsor a group self-improvement challenge as is occasionally done on the main sub. Our first such challenge is one of my favorites: 60 Days of Dread (60 DoD).

60 DoD is so-named for two reasons. The first, most obvious, is that it lasts 60 days. The second, and perhaps not so obvious, is that our self-improvement will generate soft Dread as a welcome side-effect. This will be great for new guys in particular who wonder where to start.

The overarching goal, and perhaps main distinction with this challenge, is to not only achieve concrete self-improvement goals, but to improve your life process. Where normally the challenges are something like "lose 50 lbs." or "increase strength by x%", those challenges dump you out the other end without any strategy for maintenance of those accomplishments. Here the process is the goal and the maintenance strategy.

So enough blathering, let's get into it. The way this works is as follows:

1. The challenge will launch January 25, 2016 and will continue until March 25, 2016.
2. Participants are encouraged to publicly declare their goals for the challenge right here in this thread.
3. Participants are encouraged to publicly track and declare their progress toward goals in the weekly 60DoD thread.
4. Each week we will put up a post about one of the core goal areas. Mods and esteemed contributors will share their secrets and journeys in these areas.
5. By the end of the challenge you should have integrated some new habits and features about yourself in a way that you should be able to maintain.

Here are the suggested areas to target in the challenge:

1. Fitness. Commit to lifting as a base minimum, other exercise as you see fit. The core of the goal in this area is to adopt a time/place and a number of days that you WILL lift, no exceptions. The choice of weight program is up to you, but you must commit the time and effort to lifting. Lifting should become a regular and immutable part of your schedule. When your wife says, "Oh let's go see the Shitdragons concert on Thursday at 7pm," if that's when you lift, then you need to say "Sorry, that's when I lift."

2. Diet. The old maxim says that the best bodies are built in the kitchen. Therefore, you need to take control of what you eat. Prep lunches for work. Get healthy food in the house if your wife hasn't. Toss the junk food. Again, your meal plan is your own, but be a Nazi about it. Track your intake with a phone app; know your macro totals. Don't deviate. Consider cutting drinking to no more than 1 day a week, and set a hard target for the number of drinks in that day.

3. Hygiene. Time to change that hair style. Time to empty the medicine cabinet and shower of all products and do a review. Do your products smell good? Do they care for you and your body? Or do you use them because that's what the wife buys? Maybe because they're cheap? Upgrade or change existing products, and start adding some you've never used, like face lotion, shower gel, or shea butter soaps. No idea WTF I'm on about with this one? Research should be your first step.

4. Style. Let's face it, we could all stand to update our threads. More importantly, many of us lack a defined style. Do what you gotta do, but define what your look is, and then find clothes that reflect it. Clothes don't totally make the man, but they go a long way. Pay special attention to fit, as clothes that are too big or too small make you look like you have no style sense. If money is tight then budget for it and spread the acquisition of new clothes out over the duration of the challenge, as your budget allows. Most importantly, as you add new pieces, toss the ones that are old and/or not congruent with your defined look. Don't use the "it's comfortable" excuse. Get new underwear is an old soft Dread trick that you can use right out the gate. Build from there.

5. Game. Yes, your game sucks. So does mine. So does /u/Whinemoreplease's. Everyone's game is shitty and we all need to do better. If you've never read the classics of Game, it's time. Books by Mystery and Style, Girls Chase, Roosh V - doesn't matter, read 'em all. Then get out there and practice. Set targets for yourself for cold approaches each day. Can be a chick from another floor in the elevator; a cashier at the deli. Make concrete goals until those are easy, then raise the bar. You might start by just seeing if you can make them smile with one sentence. Then move it to starting a full conversation. Escalate until you leave the conversation with her hanging on your words and giving you IOI's begging to know how she'll see you again. I know some married guys who number-close constantly just to prove they can. Again the exact nature of the goal is up to you, but the process has to be there until it is routine.

6. Finances. While we're on the topic, it's time to get a handle on your money. You spend your most precious resource (hint: your time) at work, and the money you bring home is what you get in trade. Don't waste it. Get all your bank statements, credit card statements, bills, and get a good look at where your money is going. If you have a lot of debt, find ways to trim your expenditure and put more money towards paying that off. If you are debt-free, make sure your savings goals are established and being met. Track it all in an app of some kind. It can be painful to know what's really going on, but I promise nothing will make you feel more in control of your destiny than getting a handle on the money. And since we're coming into tax season, make it a goal to get all your tax info together by the end of the challenge too.

7. Career. As a man, one of your great sources of pride and masculinity is Mastery, and work offers one area for that in our modern world. Plus, the more productive you are at your job, the more money you’ll pull in to fix your financial situation. Goals in this area should be concrete and process-driven both. They could be to get a promotion/change companies, change entire industries, or smaller in scale such as rocking a current project to the max. You should also building in training goals here, and a new habit of continuing to learn. This can be reading books, taking a course at a local college, or doing a MOOC to learn new skills.

8. Social and hobbies. We often talk about how important it is to have friends and hobbies outside the home. This is for the benefit of enjoying your life and having a healthy, well-adjusted set of relationships with other people. In the 60 DoD your goal should be to cultivate some new interests, and also to learn how to quickly and easily integrate yourself with a new group of men. There was a list recently of hobby ideas, so don’t use the “I don’t know what to do,” excuse. Get out there.

I hope we can get decent participation in this challenge; I know I’m excited and ready to start. Be thinking about your goals and be ready to make your declaration this coming Monday. A new(er) you is only 60 days away.

As always, I probably forgot something. Chime in as needed.

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[Edit for formatting, as always - thanks Reddit.] [Also editing to make this the thread for goal declaration.]