75 Soft
A history, my experience, & your challenge!
The History
If you've been around the internet in the last few years, you've likely heard of a trend called 75 Hard. This challenge began in 2019, created by entrepreneur and podcaster Andy Frisella. He designed it as a way to build mental toughness and discipline.
The original challenge includes the following daily rules:
Follow a diet with no cheat meals or alcohol
Complete two 45-minute workouts (one must be outdoors)
Drink a gallon of water
Read 10 pages of a nonfiction book
Take a daily progress photo
If you miss even one task, you have to start back at day one.
While the challenge gained a ton of popularity, many people found the two daily workouts to be incredibly difficult - not just because of the intensity, but also the time commitment. So, shortly after 75 Hard took off, an alternative emerged: 75 Soft.
At first, 75 Soft was simply a lighter version of the original - the same components, but with only one 45-minute workout instead of two.
Since then, though, it has evolved into more of a mindset. Now, 75 Soft often focuses on building sustainable, healthy habits, and there are countless variations that allow for flexibility and balance.
People create their own versions with habits like better sleep, journaling, gratitude, screen time limits, and more.
That’s what I love most about it - this version of the challenge feels doable for more people. It’s about creating consistency - not perfection. It allows for customization based on your goals.
That’s not to say 75 Hard is bad. I would love to complete it one day. But it all comes down to knowing your capacity in your current season.
Our Version
Jackson and I started our own versions of 75 Soft back in early February. We were starting to come out of the winter uglies but also knew we still had many weeks of cold weather ahead of us, and we needed a little motivation.
While we certainly haven’t followed the challenge perfectly, I do believe it has helped us implement healthy habits into our lives that will stick far beyond the challenge.
What’s been hard:
Identifying the most important habits. When I first decided to do this challenge, I was overwhelmed by how many healthy habits I could work on. I found it helpful to think about what I could subtract as well as what I wanted to add — the biggest one for me has been screen time!
Making time. It seems doable on paper to add in workouts and steps and healthy meals, but the time it takes to accomplish all those things quickly adds up. You have to get creative with how you incorporate habits into your daily life.
Doing it for 75 days. 75 days is roughly only two and a half months. But doing something every day for that long is a big deal and a decent chunk of your year! I like the idea of having a set timeframe when you start; however, if I do this challenge again, I might change my length. You could make it seasonal, monthly, or even week-by-week based on your schedule and capacity.
What I love:
Building healthy habits. It was hard at first, but it’s so fun now to see habits coming so much more naturally than they did when I first started. Daily workouts still take effort, but my steps and my water intake feel almost automatic. It’s so rewarding to see these “temporary” habits from my challenge turn into more permanent lifestyle changes.
Doing it with others. When I decided I wanted to do this, the first thing I did was ask Jackson to join me. It’s so much more enjoyable (and easier) to do it with someone else! Whether it’s someone in-person who you can workout and walk with or a long distance friend you could send updates to, don’t do it alone!
Increasing discipline and confidence. This challenge has helped me see that discipline doesn’t have to mean sacrificing balance — it can be steady, intentional, and supportive. It feels so good to accomplish something you weren’t sure you could, and it builds confidence in your ability to show up and do hard things.
So far, this challenge has been a positive and rewarding experience for me. Has it looked perfect? By no means. But overall, I feel like it’s led me on an upward trajectory toward healthier habits and a healthier lifestyle.
Your 75 Soft
I think spring is the perfect time to start your own 75 Soft challenge. The weather is warmer, the sun is coming out more, and we all tend to feel a new burst of inspiration and motivation.
I encourage you to make a list of healthy habits you want to incorporate into your life. Dream big. Make it as long as you want.
Then, go back and identify the important ones that you want to work on in the next few weeks.
Maybe it’s all related to getting good sleep or fitness. Maybe it’s a new morning routine you want to create or a specific health issue you want to try some holistic solutions for.
Whatever it is, identify your habits - then commit to doing them for a set amount of time.
I don’t think you will regret it!
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this newsletter, it would mean so much to me if you would share it with a friend!
Take care,
Caroline