1.
THE 40 DAY CHALLENGE

2.
THE CHALLENGE
Over the course of 40 days, each day being a
specific and unique challenge; you can
dramatically change as a librarian. These
challenges are designed for anyone – from
director to circulation to page. Or for the most
senior librarian to one just starting out in
library school

3.
A 2009 study published in the
European Journal of Social
Psychology stated that it takes
18 to 254 days for a person to
form a new habit.
The study also concluded that,
on average, it takes 66 days for
a new behavior to become
automatic.
WHY 40?

4.
Kundalini Yoga, also known as
the yoga of awareness is
practiced over 40 consecutive
days to make or break habits.
Through physical movement,
breathing and listening to
specific sounds it will help
improve ones consciousness,
develop intuition, increase self
knowledge, and is said to
unlock the unlimited creative
potential.
MAGIC NUMBER
Forty days has sacred relevance
throughout religion.
• In Judaism, for someone who
seeks an answer to their
prayers should pray the same
prayer request for 40
consecutive days.
• Forty days also has significance
for Christians who fast for 40
days during Lent.
• Some religions and cultures
state that a new mother is
confined to her home for 40
days after she has given birth.

5.
• Personality can be changed
through handwriting
exercises over a period of 40
days.
• Our skin cells on average
take 40 days to renew, our
red blood cells start dying
from 40 days onwards
SCIENCE OF 40

6.
The goal is that by doing small
incremental changes over 40
days we can strengthen our
connection with ourselves, our
team, and our community
MISSION

7.
WHAT ARE THEY?
So what are these 40 challenges
and how are they divided up?
At the end of each day – there will
be time to write about what
happened and complete a specific
exercise.
Each challenge is designed like a
work out – most can be
completed in 30 minutes or less

8.
These challenges are designed
around strengthen your
connection to your community.
CENTERED ON
COMMUNITY

9.
CHALLENGE:
CALLING
Asking for help from local
businesses can yield surprising
results

10.
We can agree technology is all
around us – but is too much
technology a thing? These
challenges are a bit harder
which include disconnecting
from technology outlets so we
can focus more on ourselves,
family, team, and community
TEACHING WITH
TECHNOLOGY

11.
HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU SPEND
YOUR PHONE

12.
Whether or are a leader or not,
its important to have good
leadership values. These
challenges are geared to put
you outside of your comfort
level and push you into new
understandings of yourself.
LEARNING TO
LEAD

13.
360 SURVEY
Asking for feedback is vital to growth

14.
This is a fun one – these
challenges are focused on
things you may not have found
time to do. They are geared to
open up new opportunities for
you and your library
EXPLORING WITH
EXCITEMENT

15.
TED TALKS
Listen to 5 talks and summarize what you learned

16.
This one gets fairly deep with
our inner workings of ourselves.
But to improve how we work,
interact, and achieve – we must
know our own strengths and
weaknesses.
FINDING YOUR
FOCUS

17.
CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE
Expanding your circle allows you to have deeper and more meaningful
connections

18.
PUTTING IT TOGETHER
At the end of this 40 day experience – you
should have discovered new things about
yourself, your team, and your community.
Interested in getting the full challenge set.
Dates:
07/01/2022
09/01/2022
Email:
iamready@thelibrarychallenge.com
thelibrarychallenge.com

19.
PLAN
The second component of this
challenge is doing this in a
group. We are building a
platform (free) that you can
share with others the successes
(and fails) of doing each
challenge.
Community Is Key

20.
Not all challenges you will be
able to do – and some you may
have to skip because of
everything else going on. That is
OK. But try to be consistent.
CONSISTENCY

21.
Discussion and
Questions
• Email: BPichman@evolveproject.org
• Twitter: @Bpichman
• iamready@thelibrarychallenge.com
• thelibrarychallenge.com