You’ve probably experienced the thrill of accomplishment that comes with setting a new goal and sticking to it. Even better if that goal becomes a new healthy habit you are able to fit into your daily life! 

But building healthy habits can be challenging, and it’s easy to be hard on yourself when they don’t stick right away. So, how do you work towards a new habit with more grace and kindness to yourself?

## Try a “better than nothing” habit instead!

As [sociologist Christine Carter shares](https://ideas.ted.com/heres-how-i-finally-got-myself-to-start-exercising/), try allowing yourself to “do something so minuscule that it’s only slightly better than doing nothing at all.” On the days that you’re struggling to fit your habit into your routine, you can fall back on doing the simplest 1-minute version instead. Want to exercise more? Commit to a brisk walk around the block, instead of trying to make it to the gym every morning. Want to meditate regularly? Start with just 1 minute a day.

With this approach, you can still aim to reach a more challenging version of your goal over time. But you’re building consistency and accomplishing small wins along the way!

## Build a healthy habit in just 1 minute a day with our Better than Nothing challenge.

Our Better than Nothing challenge idea encourages participants to focus on building a new healthy habit for just 1 minute each day. 1 minute may not feel like a lot—and that's a good thing! By aiming to stay consistent above all else for this 2-week challenge, participants will be planting the seed for a healthy habit to grow over the long run.

Ready to run the **Better than Nothing** challenge? See how below. 

---

### CHALLENGE DETAILS

Follow these specifications when [creating your challenge](http://help.movespring.com/en/articles/1872650-how-to-create-a-challenge) in the [Admin Center](https://admin.movespring.com/). 

### **Challenge Name:** Better than Nothing

### **Challenge Modes & Goals:**

- Custom Activity Streak - Log your 1-minute habit of choice
    - Suggested activity nickname: 1-min habit ⏰
- Content - Upload the “Better than Nothing - 1 Min. Habits” content collection from the library to share tips with users on starting new healthy habits and managing habits that no longer serve their health
- Target - Keep moving to reach 70,000 steps over the course of the challenge
- Leaderboard - Metric: Steps

### **Duration:** 14 days

### **Description:**

Build a daily healthy habit with Better than Nothing! According to sociologist Christine Carter, the key to building a healthy habit is to start small—really small! Log just 1 minute of a new habit each day to help make that habit automatic over time. 

In this challenge:

✅ Complete 1 min of your habit each day & log it in the app

👟 Keep stepping to reach your Target goal

Time for better than nothing! 

**Head to the Admin Center to [create the challenge](https://admin.movespring.com/challenges/create/) now.**

---

### COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

### **CHALLENGE INVITATION**

Send this invitation as an [in-app announcement](http://help.movespring.com/en/articles/3854206-how-to-use-the-announcements-feature) and as a message in Slack, Teams, or email.

**When:** 7 days prior to the challenge start

**Title:** Time for healthy habits ⏰

**Optional** **Image:**

![personal_goal_planner_and_cup_of_coffee.jpg](https://res.cloudinary.com/movespring/image/upload/v1673557636/blog/personal_goal_planner_and_cup_of_coffee_907a6c031b.jpg)

**Description:**

The Better than Nothing challenge, inspired by sociologist Christine Carter, asks you to start a new healthy habit for only 1 minute a day!

Starting small and focusing on consistency is key. Just 1 minute each day is enough to kickstart a new healthy habit. ⏳

✔️ Pick a habit you've wanted to work on, and practice it for at least 1 minute daily for the duration of the challenge.

✔️ Keep moving to reach the Target goal

**Call to action button link:** [INSERT CHALLENGE LINK]

**Call to action button text:** Join the challenge

---

### **CHALLENGE ANNOUNCEMENTS**

### Challenge Kick-off Announcement:

Engage your users from day 1 by sending an [in-app announcement](http://help.movespring.com/en/articles/3854206-how-to-use-the-announcements-feature) that promotes your challenge.

**When:** First day of challenge

**Title:** Habits to be made here 🔨

**Image:** 

![person_holding_sign_that_says_healthy_habits.jpg](https://res.cloudinary.com/movespring/image/upload/v1673557659/blog/person_holding_sign_that_says_healthy_habits_9495644f43.jpg)

**Recipients:** Send to challenge participants

**Description:**

Today is the first day of the Better than Nothing Challenge! Have you found a habit you want to work on? We recommend a 1-minute habit you can practice even on your busiest days!

Check out the content section for why 1 minute a day is enough to start building a new habit, as well as some 1-minute habit inspiration if you're feeling stuck. ✨

Remember to also aim to keep moving to reach the Target goal by the end of the challenge. Happy stepping! 👟

### Challenge Wrap-up Announcement:

Recap your challenge by calling out stats and any rewards or prizes you are giving out. Be sure to include your own information in the placeholders below.

**When:** After grace period ends

**Title:** You did it! 💥

**Image:** 

![mug_that_says_go_get_em.jpg](https://res.cloudinary.com/movespring/image/upload/v1673557681/blog/mug_that_says_go_get_em_e7cf97a9a6.jpg)

**Recipients:** Send to challenge participants

**Description:**

Talk about stepping it up! Congrats to everyone for participating in our Better than Nothing challenge and focusing on working to build a new personal healthy habit. 

It looks like [# PARTICIPANTS] kept the Streak going the entire challenge. We hope that habit sticks with you going forward. 🤩

Everyone who met the goal was also entered into a prize-drawing raffle. The winner is: [PARTICIPANT]

Thanks for joining, getting stepping, and working to build a new habit. You’re all superstars! And remember, something is always better than nothing. 🏆

**Want more announcement templates?** Find more in our [Announcement Templates for Challenge Updates](http://help.movespring.com/en/articles/4270417-announcement-templates-for-challenge-updates-and-new-features). 

---

### **CHAT PROMPTS**

All chat messages should be posted from your MoveSpring account in the mobile app or from the [MoveSpring web app](https://app.movespring.com/) in the challenge chat. Encourage engagement by responding to the prompts yourself first to kick things off!

**When:** First day of challenge

**Message:** 

Welcome to Better than Nothing! Time to pick a habit to log for the challenge that feels so simple that you can do it even when you’re tired, busy, or feeling unmotivated. ✅ Let us know what habit you’re working on below here in chat!

**When:** Halfway through the challenge

**Message:** 

We’re halfway through the Better than Nothing challenge! How has it been going for you? Share any takeaways or advice you have so far with the group!

---

### REWARDS STRATEGY

You can pull a report to determine the participants who met the Custom Activity Streak goal, and raffle off prizes to those who met the goal. We suggest prizes that will reinforce the themes of the challenge, such as habit-based subscriptions or items.

### **Prize Ideas:**

- [Habit tracking calendar](https://lamare.co/products/habit-tracker-calendar)
- [Smart water bottle](https://hidratespark.com/products/hidratespark-pro-smart-water-bottle-21oz-620ml-insulated-stainless-steel-chug?variant=39446523248749)
- Subscription to a [mindfulness app](https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/top-meditation-iphone-android-apps) or [Audible](https://www.audible.com)
- Copy of [Atomic Habits](https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-Proven-Build-Break/dp/1847941842) by James Clear

**Want more challenge templates? Ask your client success rep about our [Ultimate plan](https://movespring.com/pricing).**

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Encourage your employees to form healthy habits with our Better than Nothing challenge

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Workplace Health and Wellness Calendar 2023

So you've decided to run a corporate step challenge and need some great prize ideas to go along with it. You've come to the right place! 

We'll be covering 80 prize ideas for any budget to help you find the right rewards for your company step challenge.  Incentivizing with rewards and prizes is a great way to motivate your participants to do their best and have some fun.

After years of running challenges for companies of all sizes at MoveSpring, we've discovered 4 key points about rewarding and employee recognition:

 - Rewards can help to drive engagement.
 - Rewards work best when they are customized & thoughtful.
 - Rewards should be available to more than just the top steppers.
 - Rewards can fit any budget!

Rewards are a cornerstone of a successful wellness program and can incentivize habit change and health engagement. While the saying goes "cash is king", prizes actually work best when they're uniquely curated to your challenge theme or organization itself! When you take the time to reward participants based on their interests and goals, it helps to foster appreciation between employer and employees. 

If you're feeling worried that you don't have a large budget to spend on prizes, no sweat! You can show recognition to your participants with any budget. Really!

![prize-ideas-4.jpg](https://res.cloudinary.com/movespring/image/upload/v1634073064/blog/prize_ideas_4_00d8246f7a.jpg)

In this blog post, we'll be covering creative ways to reward your participants that go beyond recognizing top steppers. In addition, you'll find our favorite 80 prize ideas for a corporate step challenge broken down by category and budget.

If you're ready to create a reward strategy for your challenge that ensures participants are engaged, excited, and ultimately more active, read on!


## Rewards: The Basics


Let's start off with the basics. When creating a reward strategy for your company step challenge, you'll want to decide on a couple of key points upfront:

### What's your overall budget & how many prizes will you be offering?

Budget is a big thing to consider starting out. By identifying your total allocated budget, you'll be better prepared to figure out what kinds of prizes you can offer for your step challenge!  If you're only running one challenge, we recommend offering around 5-10 different prizes for participants to win. If you're running company step challenges often, 2-3 prizes should be enough per challenge to keep competition and excitement high. Keep in mind, prize number recommendations might vary based on the size of your organization.

With the prizes we've listed below, we're sure you'll find some great options, no matter what your budget may be.

### How will you structure your rewards strategy?

Next, you'll want to decide how you'll structure your rewards strategy. Rewards can be based on the entire duration of the challenge, or you can make users eligible for different rewards weekly for more fun! 

For example, include smaller weekly prizes for participants who average a certain amount of steps. Then, announce the grand prizes after the challenge ends based on total challenge stats. Participants will have something to look forward to every week!

Looking for an extra-exciting option? Create a raffle where participants become eligible for entry when they meet certain challenge goals or maintain activity averages. This keeps anticipation high and ensures everyone has a chance to win while they're crushing their goals. 

### How will your participants qualify for prizes?

Finally, you'll want to determine exactly how participants qualify for prizes. While you may feel tempted to reward the top steppers on the Leaderboard, this method can be a bit disheartening! You may inadvertently discourage other participants who are trying their best, but ultimately can't compete with your most athletic employees. After all, the goal is to be inclusive and reward everyone who is working hard to be engaged and more active!

There are many ways to recognize participants that go beyond just recognizing your top steppers. We recommend giving participants a few different ways to earn a reward to diversify your reward strategy. The more ways they have to participate and engage, the more chances they have to win! 

![prize-ideas-7.jpg](https://res.cloudinary.com/movespring/image/upload/v1634073218/blog/prize_ideas_7_194582cd94.jpg)


## Ways to Reward Participants

Below, you'll find four ways to reward your participants creatively, whether you're using the MoveSpring platform or not:

### **Achievement**

Reward top-stepping participants as one part of your overall reward strategy. We also recommend recognizing users who are most improved over the course of the challenge. Additionally, you can recognize participants who made new personal records (like most activity in one day)!

**For example, reward a few users who are most improved from weeks 1-2 to weeks 3-4 with PTO half day passes.**

*💡The Leaderboard, Journey, and Target modes on MoveSpring are ideal to measure individual achievement.*

### **Teamwork**

Reward winning teams in competitive challenges or celebrate goal completion in collaborative challenges.

**For example, reward the team with the highest average steps with a team pizza party.**

*💡Try the Team Leaderboard, Group Journey, Group Target, or Group Target Fundraiser modes on MoveSpring to recognize teamwork.*

### **Consistency**

Reward participants who consistently meet their activity goals over time. Those who average a certain number of steps, distance, or active minutes throughout the duration of the challenge become eligible for prizes.

**For example, create a raffle to reward users who maintain a 5k step average for 30 days with a $20 gift card to a local grocer.**

*💡The Streak & Stick to It modes in MoveSpring are a great way to measure consistency and stay on top of your goals.*

### **Participation & Engagement**

Reward participants for joining the challenge and actively syncing. With the help of MoveSpring admin reports, you can also recognize those who engage with the app, content, or chat on a regular basis.

**For example, reward the most engaged user in the MoveSpring app with a healthy snack box.**

*💡With MoveSpring’s Engagement Reports, you’ll have access to engagement stats from the MoveSpring Admin Center.*


## Reward Ideas for Any Budget

Now that you've got your reward strategy basics down, let's get to the fun part: prizes! 

Sure, we all love an Amazon gift card, but there are plenty of other outside-of-the-box prize options for you to choose from as well. We recommend tailoring your rewards specifically to your challenge theme or your employees' goals and interests. Your employees will appreciate the personal touch, and they'll be more motivated to engage with your challenge and ultimately their health.

Our favorite 80 prize ideas are broken down into five main reward categories: wellness prizes, prizes beyond wellness, experiences, corporate benefits, and recognition. Each category has options for any budget; the opportunities to get challenge participants pumped are endless!

### Budget Key:

🆓 ($0 per participant)

💲 ($1-$50 per participant)

💲💲 ($51-$100 per participant)

💲💲💲 ($101+ per participant)

---

## **Wellness Prizes**

![prize-ideas-1.jpg](https://res.cloudinary.com/movespring/image/upload/v1634073340/blog/prize_ideas_1_3f9efda559.jpg)

*This is a fitness challenge after all! Your participants will feel motivated to keep up the investment in their health and wellbeing with these wellness-themed rewards.*

### 💲

**1** Yoga mats  

**2** Workout equipment (for example: weights, resistance bands, or foam rollers)  

**3** Mini desk humidifier  

**4** Insulated water bottles  

**5** Goal setting journal

**6** Habit tracking calendar



### 💲💲

**7** Healthy snack boxes  

**8** SodaStream machines  

**9** Corporate care packages 

**10** Blender or smoothie-maker  

**11** Light therapy desk lamps  

**12** Back roller/wheel


### 💲💲💲

**13** Free workout or personal training passes  

**14** Bikes  

**15** Standing desks or ergonomic chairs  

**16** Weighted blankets  

**17** White-noise sleep sound machine  

**18** Smart alarm clock


### 💲 -💲💲💲

**19** Subscriptions to health & wellness apps (for example: Headspace, Calm, or Noom)  

**20** Food kit subscriptions (for example: Blue Apron, HelloFresh or Daily Harvest)  

**21** Gym memberships or fitness subscriptions  

**22** Fitness trackers  


---

## **Prizes Beyond Wellness**

![prize-ideas-6.jpg](https://res.cloudinary.com/movespring/image/upload/v1634073384/blog/prize_ideas_6_7f16b97dec.jpg)

*There are endless options of prizes beyond wellness that you can purchase for your participants! Go with the theme of your challenge or something unique to your organization. By customizing, you'll get folks excited to participate in future challenges!*

### 💲

**23** Company swag (Go with practical options! For example: Water bottles, shirts, hoodies, coffee cups, Moleskin notebooks, or backpacks)  

**24** Sunglasses  

**25** Packing cubes

**26** Travel pillows  

**27** Small potted plants or flowers  

**28** Golf umbrellas  

**29** Scratch-off tickets  

**30** Dry cleaning gift certificates  

**31** Gourmet olive oil or spice sets  

**32** Books  

**33** Themed coffee table books  

**34** Paid subscriptions to media (for example: The New York Times, New York Magazine, Tech Crunch, or Audible)  

**35** Adjustable laptop stands  


### 💲💲

**36** Themed gift baskets  

**37** Kindles  

**38** Coolers  

**39** Upgraded office supplies (For example: a new keyboard, mouse, monitor, or speakers)  

**40** Air Fryers  

**41** Outdoor hammocks  

**42** Smart mugs


### 💲 -💲💲💲  

**43** Gift cards (For example: large retailers or grocery stores. Support your local businesses by opting for gift cards to local shops, restaurants, or cafés)  

**44** Tech (For example: headphones, portable charging batteries, Bluetooth speakers, instant cameras, or tablets)  


---

## **Experiences**

![prize-ideas-5.jpg](https://res.cloudinary.com/movespring/image/upload/v1634073419/blog/prize_ideas_5_5db11222d4.jpg)

*Delight your participants with more than just "stuff"; give them an experience they'll never forget! Experiences can be especially effective in team challenges as an additional team-building exercise that's sure to be a good time.*

### 🆓

**45** Host a potluck  

**46** Host a spirit day. Pick a fun theme like costumes, sport jerseys, or fun socks!  


### 💲

**47** Catered/ food truck team lunch (if you have a remote team, try offering delivered lunches via a courier service like Postmates or Uber Eats)  

**48** Host an office party or picnic!  


### 💲💲

**49** Professional development courses (For example: LinkedIn Learning)  

**50** Cooking class passes  

**51** Museum or art exhibit tickets  


### 💲💲💲

**52** Local boat cruise tickets  

**53** Food or brewery/winery tours  


### 💲 -💲💲💲

**54** Spa experience certificates (For example: massages, facials, or manicures/pedicures)  

**55** Local event tickets (For example: concerts, festivals, movies, or sporting events)  

**56** Airbnb experiences  

**57** Rock climbing day pass or intro classes  

**58** Indoor skydiving experience


---

## **Corporate Benefits**

![prize-ideas-3.jpg](https://res.cloudinary.com/movespring/image/upload/v1634073457/blog/prize_ideas_3_2d29b3f2e4.jpg)

*If your company offers benefits to employees, why not include those options to reward your challenge participants? A practical solution that is sure to be exciting.*

### 🆓

**59** PTO day pass  

**60** One-on-one mentoring with a fellow employee  


### 💲 -💲💲💲

**61** Company stock  

**62** Student loan contribution  

**63** Transit benefits (For example: Uber/Lyft credit or credit towards local public transportation)  

**64** Session with a financial advisor  

**65** Pay one month of a utility bill  

**66** Donate to a charity of your participant's choice on their behalf  

**67** Bike share credits  

**68** Subsidize one month of health insurance premiums  

**69** HSA contribution  

**70** One-time monetary bonus  


---

## **Recognition**

![prize-ideas-2.jpg](https://res.cloudinary.com/movespring/image/upload/v1634073491/blog/prize_ideas_2_8aa61c658a.jpg)

*You don't always have to shop or spend for the perfect reward! Leverage existing resources or individuals in your organization to recognize participants uniquely.*

### 🆓

**71** Feature in a company newsletter or signage around the office  

**72** Standing ovation during a meeting  

**73** Entry into an employee hall of fame  

**74** Temporarily re-name a conference room (or something else in your office) after the participant for bragging rights  

**75** Video shout-out or handwritten note by CEO or other company executive  

**76** Extra long lunch pass  

**77** Create a custom Slack emoji with a company-wide shoutout  

**78** Give a professional endorsement on LinkedIn  


### 💲 -💲💲💲

**79** Dinner with the CEO or other company executive  

**80** Order a Cameo of someone famous in your industry (or a favorite celebrity)  


---

So there you have it! The most important rule is to have fun with creating your rewards strategy and give it a personalized touch. We're certain your fitness challenge participants will appreciate the uniqueness you've added to the experience. Aside from bragging rights, they'll sure have a lot more to brag about. 😉 Happy Stepping!


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80 Prize Ideas for a Corporate Step Challenge

Looking to build a holistic wellness program that’s both fun and engaging for a variety of populations? Try incorporating monthly themes! 

When we built our own internal wellness program here at MoveSpring, we found that monthly themes were one of the simplest and most effective ways to structure our program. Themes helped guide and inform our wellness program, from the content we shared to the challenges we ran, events we hosted, and more!

![92_themes.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/movespring/image/upload/v1670880091/blog/92_themes_018dc4bae3.png)

In this blog post, we’ll be covering how to use monthly themes to guide your wellness program — from activities to educational resources. Plus, we’ll cover some tried and true activities that we at MoveSpring include in our wellness program.

## Using monthly themes helps you focus on health topics that matter to you and your unique employee population.

To select monthly themes to use in your wellness program, think holistically and consider the scope of the entire year. We suggest planning out themes for the entire calendar year if possible, or at a minimum planning a quarter at a time. Picking the themes you’ll focus on ahead of time allows you to be intentional with your choices and address topics that matter most to your employees. 

Here’s what you’ll want to consider starting out:

- **Which topics are of interest to your employees?** If you’re not sure, try surveying your group ahead of time. Get a pulse on what your employees care about and want to learn more about to help you choose engaging and exciting themes.
- **What health topics are especially relevant in your industry?** If there are specific health topics that affect your industry or company in particular, make sure to make those front and center. For example, stress and burnout might be an important topic for the medical field, while social connection could be a relevant theme for remote teams.
- **How can you tie in national health observances?** You can pull inspiration from many existing wellness holidays and initiatives. Health observances are an especially great resource to consider, since top health authorities like the CDC and HHS create informational resources for select observances that are free to use. You can find a list of popular health observances [on our blog](https://movespring.com/blog/workplace-health-and-wellness-calendar-2022-78#:~:text=What%20observances%20can%20I%20include%3F).

## What are some themes to consider?

You’ll want to focus on themes that will be engaging and exciting to your employee population and their interests. Here are some common health & wellness themes you can consider including in your wellness program:

- Healthy Habits
- Rest
- Workplace Wellness
- Self-care
- Movement
- Balance
- Healthy Holidays
- Heart Health
- Teamwork
- Healthy Summer
- Healthy Meal Prep
- Social Wellness
- Mindfulness
- Stress & Resilience
- Gratitude

## You’ve chosen themes. Now spread the word!

After selecting themes, it’s time to share them with your program participants. One of the simplest ways to share your monthly themes is by creating a wellness calendar.

A wellness calendar is a shared company calendar used to communicate important wellness program events, initiatives, and programs. 

We wrote a whole [blog post](https://movespring.com/blog/workplace-health-and-wellness-calendar-2022-78) on what a comprehensive wellness calendar might look like, but if you don’t have a broader strategy yet, you can keep it simple and communicate your chosen themes as a starting point. 

Here’s an example of a simple wellness calendar we created for our team:

![92_wellness_calendar.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/movespring/image/upload/v1670880092/blog/92_wellness_calendar_79f35b36ec.png)

While you iron out the final details for your challenges, events, and resources for the year ahead, sharing this calendar allows your employees to get an idea of what they can expect. If you don’t know the names of challenges you’ll be running, you can always use placeholders such as “TBD” or “Fall challenge” instead. This sneak peek can help to build momentum and excitement around what’s coming up, which in turn can increase engagement with your wellness program. 

We recommend sharing this across as many communication channels as possible. E-mail newsletters, messaging apps, and company intranets are all great places to share your calendar publicly. Reaching as many employees as possible ensures maximum engagement in your program.

## Creative ways to use monthly themes

After choosing and communicating your monthly themes to your employees, you can get creative and begin planning corresponding activities and events. Below, you’ll find our four favorite ways to use monthly themes in company wellness programming.

### 1. Lead interactive team events

Use your monthly themes to help you plan social events throughout the year. Events are a great way to bring employees together to learn new things. It also gives everyone an opportunity to interact with colleagues that they might not otherwise work with directly. 

You can run events in person, or virtually if you’re on a remote team. Make sure to record your event and share it with those who might not be able to attend live. 

Here are some of our favorite themed event ideas:

- Facilitate a cameras-off group meditation for mental health month
- Run a virtual healthy cooking class for nutrition month
- Host a lunch and learn about hypertension for heart health month
- Hire a yoga instructor to lead a group yoga class for strength month
- Organize a virtual scavenger hunt of personal items for gratitude month

### 2. Engage and educate with Wellness Wednesdays

Wellness Wednesdays are a crowd favorite at MoveSpring! Every Wednesday, we share short health & wellness posts in a dedicated wellness channel on Slack. If you’d prefer to post on another day of the week, try out Feel Good Friday or one of these [other weekday ideas](http://help.movespring.com/en/articles/5728666-announcement-templates-for-general-wellness-engagement#h_d2cc6c7c4a).

Wellness Wednesdays should ideally be posted in a place that will encourage the most engagement. Some options can include messaging apps like Slack or Microsoft Teams, or a company intranet portal.

![92_wellness_wednesdays.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/movespring/image/upload/v1670880093/blog/92_wellness_wednesdays_029d27732b.png)

Use your monthly theme to guide the content of your posts. We recommend making your posts as interactive as possible to prompt conversation amongst employees. Here are our favorite ideas for what to include in a successful post: 

- **Reflect and share**: Start a discussion on a relevant wellness topic (try linking out to articles, videos, or podcasts!) and ask employees to reflect and share their thoughts. Provide a prompt related to your monthly theme, and encourage sharing of personal experiences or ideas.
- **Share a photo:** It’s fun to share personal experiences, and photos are a great way to get everyone engaged. Ask employees to share a photo of an experience, a meal they made, or a memory they recall that relates to your post.
- **Test your knowledge:** Quizzes are a fun and low-barrier way to get everyone involved. You can ask multiple choice, true/false, or 2 truths and a lie style questions about stats or information on your monthly theme. Make it easy to engage with just the click of a button by using emoji reactions to gather answers.

Whatever prompts you choose, we encourage you to keep your posts simple and engaging, so it's easy and fun for employees to participate!

### 3. Create holistic actionable content

Similar to Wellness Wednesdays, actionable content that corresponds to your monthly theme can serve as an educational tool to bring awareness to health topics that matter. Actionable content encourages employees to engage in a specific action that promotes their wellness, which in turn encourages holistic healthy behaviors year-round. 

For example, for mental health month, try encouraging an act of self-care or a mindful walk. For nutrition month, inspire employees to go meatless for one meal or to swap a sugary drink with water.

For our internal wellness program, we bring actionable content front and center to the MoveSpring dashboard by utilizing the [content campaigns feature](http://help.movespring.com/en/articles/4913331-how-to-create-a-content-campaign). The prompts are marked as [actionable](https://movespring.com/blog/promote-and-track-a-variety-of-health-actions-through-our-latest-feature-actionable-content-6) so users can swipe to complete each post they engaged with. 

These content posts remain static on the dashboard, and you can choose to add or remove posts at any time from the MoveSpring admin center. Learn how [here](http://help.movespring.com/en/articles/4913331-how-to-create-a-content-campaign). 

![92_content_prompts.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/movespring/image/upload/v1670880092/blog/92_content_prompts_3184b7703e.png)

Use our [actionable content collections](https://movespring.com/product/content-library) for your wellness program, by filtering for content tagged as **Actionable**. Some of our collections include [Healthy Summer](https://admin.movespring.com/campaigns/content-library/141/collection/50/), [Increasing Movement](https://admin.movespring.com/campaigns/content-library/141/collection/46/), [Nutrition](https://admin.movespring.com/campaigns/content-library/141/collection/48/), [Mental Health](https://admin.movespring.com/campaigns/content-library/141/collection/49/), and [Gratitude](https://admin.movespring.com/campaigns/content-library/141/collection/57/). 

### 4. Run a themed challenge

Your monthly themes are a perfect jumping-off point to kickstart brainstorming for wellness challenges. 

If your theme focuses on social wellness, try a good, old-fashioned [team step challenge](https://movespring.com/blog/build-connection-and-camaraderie-with-a-social-wellness-challenge-81). If you’re focusing on holistic topics like hydration or mindfulness, challenge your employees to [adopt healthy habits](https://movespring.com/blog/fall-into-healthy-habits-with-our-let%E2%80%99s-groove-challenge-88) instead. 

Use the inspiration from your theme to create a personalized experience with customized goals, communications, and prizes. Creating a challenge that centers around your theme can drive your message home through a combination of awareness and engagement. For more ideas on creating an exciting themed challenge, check out the advice in our blog post [here](https://movespring.com/blog/how-to-create-a-themed-step-challenge-14).


## There are many ways you can incorporate themes into your wellness program.
We encourage you to try different ideas to find what is most engaging to your employees. Regardless of what your wellness program looks like, remember to plan ahead and communicate often to help build a cohesive program your users will want to engage in. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to wellness, and your program should be just as unique as your individual employees.

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Using monthly themes to guide your wellness program

Have you heard the phrase “sober curious” recently? Or maybe you’ve heard about Dry January, or Sober October?

Cutting down on alcohol consumption is all the buzz these days, and for good reason. 

Drinking levels are up since the start of the pandemic. According to Harvard Health, **nearly two-thirds of surveyed adults reported drinking more since the beginning of the pandemic than beforehand.*** Many adults are pausing to reflect on their drinking habits, and the idea of cutting back on alcohol has become increasingly mainstream in recent years.

### Dry January is gaining in popularity year after year.

In 2022, according to CNN, roughly 35% of legal-aged adults participated in Dry January, up from just 21% in 2019.* With increasing non-alcoholic alternative beverage options on the market and more awareness of the detrimental effects of alcohol, it’s easier than ever to try temporarily abstaining from alcohol.

Most people choose to go “dry” for an entire month, giving them time to reflect on their typical alcohol consumption habits and give their bodies a reset. This is especially beneficial after the holidays, when we are typically surrounded by alcohol at social gatherings, and it can be easy to let some of our healthy habits slide. Since most people prefer to participate alongside a community of others who can offer support and accountability, this challenge is a great opportunity to foster alcohol awareness together with your employees.

### Check out how Reward Gateway adapted Press Pause on your Pint into their own “Dry May with Doug” initiative!

![cocktail_glass_full_of_glitter.jpg](https://res.cloudinary.com/movespring/image/upload/v1668539347/blog/cocktail_glass_full_of_glitter_0b7c9f939c.jpg)

While January is a popular month to run an alcohol-free challenge, you can host Press Pause on your Pint any time of year to help your employees become more mindful of their alcohol consumption and habits.

MoveSpring’s parent company, **Reward Gateway,** proved cutting back on alcohol is effective year-round. Former CEO Doug Butler wanted to cut out alcohol in May, and dropped a note in Slack asking if anyone else would be interested in participating.

The response was a resounding yes! **With leadership promoting the initiative across Slack and internal company blogs, 54 total employees ended up participating in the “Dry May with Doug” challenge for the entire month of May.** 

Klara Owens, Internal Communications and Employer Brand Manager at Reward Gateway, summarizes the challenges’ success:

*Almost half of participants logged that they reached their goal to abstain from alcohol for at least 25 out of 31 days—no small feat! A big part of the success of the challenge was thanks to Doug’s involvement and engagement in the challenge. He was active in sharing photos and messages in the challenge chat, and even made it a point to ship some non-alcoholic beers and wines to the office as a unique alternative to make the month fun for all!*

Doug also cited the flexibility of the challenge set up as key to success: 

*For anyone who wasn’t a big drinker, the challenge was easy. For those who enjoyed the occasional libation, we provided a little flexibility in targeting only 25 days of sobriety. We wanted the challenge to be inclusive so everyone could get involved! This is one challenge in which I think everyone should get a medal.*

We found that genuine involvement and support from leadership coupled with an inclusive mindset made the initiative a huge success. 

You don’t have to wait for January to start new healthy habits, so make sure to bookmark this post if you want to run this challenge later in the year. 

Ready to run **Press Pause on your Pint**? See how below. 

---

### CHALLENGE DETAILS

Follow these specifications when [creating your challenge](http://help.movespring.com/en/articles/1872650-how-to-create-a-challenge) in the [Admin Center](https://admin.movespring.com/). 

### **Challenge Name:** Press Pause on your Pint

### **Challenge Modes & Goals:**

- Custom Activity Stick to It - Abstain from alcohol 25 times over the course of the challenge (Activity nickname: 🚫 🍺 🍷 🍸)
- Content - Upload the “Going Alcohol Free” content collection from the library to educate your users on the benefits of cutting out alcohol
- Target - Keep everyone moving to reach 150,000 steps over the course of the challenge

### **Duration:** 31 days

### **Description:**

While drinking alcoholic beverages in moderation can be a normal part of our social lives, temporarily abstaining can have surprising benefits for your health. The goal of this challenge is to keep you accountable in abstaining for at least 25 days.  Here's how it will work:

🚫🍻 Log daily that you've gone through the day without an alcoholic beverage.

👟Keep active to reach the Target step goal of 150,000 steps

Let’s press pause!

**Head to the Admin Center to [create the challenge](https://admin.movespring.com/challenges/create/) now.**

---

### COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

### **CHALLENGE INVITATION**

Send this invitation as an [in-app announcement](http://help.movespring.com/en/articles/3854206-how-to-use-the-announcements-feature) and as a message in Slack, Teams, or email.

**When:** 7 days prior to challenge start

**Title:** Let's press pause ⏸

**Optional Image:**

![person_in_sunhat_toasting_with_mocktail.jpg](https://res.cloudinary.com/movespring/image/upload/v1668539731/blog/person_in_sunhat_toasting_with_mocktail_fe07ba60f0.jpg)

**Description:**

Ready to press pause on drinking? Join our next MoveSpring challenge!

While drinking alcoholic beverages in moderation can be a normal part of our social lives, temporarily abstaining can have surprising benefits for your health. 

🚫🍻Join in the challenge to cut out alcohol for at least 25 days, or aim for each day of the challenge if you want a full reset. 

Let’s cheer each other on to reach the goal, share tips for staying motivated, and celebrate an alcohol-free month!

**Call to action button link:** [INSERT CHALLENGE LINK]

**Call to action button text:** Join the challenge

---

### **CHALLENGE ANNOUNCEMENTS**

### Challenge Kick-off Announcement:

Engage your users from day 1 by sending an [in-app announcement](http://help.movespring.com/en/articles/3854206-how-to-use-the-announcements-feature) that promotes your challenge.

**When:** First day of challenge

**Title:** Lock up the beverages! 🔐

**Image:** 

![glasses_of_water.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/movespring/image/upload/v1668539781/blog/glasses_of_water_97199a8fbe.png)

**Recipients:** Send to challenge participants

**Description:**

Time to press pause! We hope you're ready to transform your body's health from the inside out.

We're challenging you to stick to at least 25 days without any alcohol this month. Feeling ambitious? Push yourself to go all 31 days! 🔥

Make sure to log your progress daily. You can always log completions up to 7 days back if you miss a day.

If you have any technical questions about the app or need help with syncing, contact the MoveSpring support team at help@movespring.com.

Good luck! 🍀

### Challenge Wrap-up Announcement:

Recap your challenge by calling out stats and any rewards or prizes you are giving out. Be sure to include your own information in the placeholders below.

**When:** After grace period ends

**Title:** Just like that... 🎉

**Image:** 

![champagne_flute_full_of_confetti.jpg](https://res.cloudinary.com/movespring/image/upload/v1668539819/blog/champagne_flute_full_of_confetti_1a1b3b0d8f.jpg)

**Recipients:** Send to challenge participants

**Description:**

...you did it! Congrats on reaching the end of our Press Pause on your Pint challenge.

We've got lots to celebrate:

[X] participants met the Stick to it goal. Hope you're all ready for our [mocktail happy hour or pizza party]! 🥳

Everyone who met the goal was also entered into a prize-drawing raffle. The winner is: [PARTICIPANT]

Thanks to everyone who participated in our challenge! Whether you abstained from drinking for only a part of the challenge or the entire time, we applaud your effort. ✨

**Want more announcement templates?** Find more in our [Announcement Templates for Challenge Updates](http://help.movespring.com/en/articles/4270417-announcement-templates-for-challenge-updates-and-new-features). 

---

### **CHAT PROMPTS**

All chat messages should be posted from your MoveSpring account in the mobile app or from the [MoveSpring web app](https://app.movespring.com/) in the challenge chat. Encourage engagement by responding to the prompts yourself first to kick things off!

**When:** First day of challenge

**Message:** 

Today’s the day! We're kicking off our Press Pause on your Pint challenge. Let’s get chatting—why are you joining in the challenge? Share your goal so we can cheer each other on!

**When:** End of the first week

**Message:** 

Can you believe it's already been a week? We're curious, what has been your favorite go to beverage or snack that you've been replacing alcohol with so far? Photos of yummy mocktails or snacks are welcome. 🤩

**When:** Halfway through the challenge 

**Message:**

Just like that, we're halfway through the challenge. Let's encourage each other to keep it up for another 15 days. 👏 

Have you noticed anything different about your body or your mind since you started this challenge? Let us know if you're feeling the positive effects of alcohol abstinence yet! 

**When:** End of the third week

**Message:**

There's only one week left! Let's take a poll: what is the first drink you'll be enjoying (mindfully, of course 😉 ) when the challenge ends?

🍺 - Beer me, please!

🍷 - Wine any day!

🍹 - A delicious cocktail!

🥤 - I'm not even craving a drink!

**When:** 3 days before the challenge end

**Message:**

We've got just three days left of the challenge. Congrats to everyone on your progress so far. 🎉

Do you have any takeaways from the challenge? Let's hear them! 

---

### REWARDS STRATEGY

You can pull a report to determine the participants who met the Custom Activity Stick to It goal, and raffle off prizes to those who met the goal. 

We suggest prizes that will reinforce the themes of the challenge, such as non-alcoholic alternatives or a celebratory party for reaching the goal!

### **Prize Ideas:**

- [SodaStream](https://sodastream.com/) or other seltzer water maker
- Water infuser [pitcher](https://www.amazon.com/Removable-Resistance-Infusion-Flavor-Infused-Beverage/dp/B07SQWHMXF) or [bottle](https://www.amazon.com/Infuser-Water-Bottle-Fruit-Infused/dp/B010EAR6YI/ref=asc_df_B010EAR6YI/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167154789240&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14741590891469958185&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9021436&hvtargid=pla-316005419468&psc=1)
- Pizza party or mocktail hour celebration
- Gift card to Starbucks or local coffee or tea shop

**Want more challenge templates? Ask your client success rep about our [Ultimate plan](https://movespring.com/pricing).**

*Sources*

[https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/thinking-of-trying-dry-january-steps-for-success-202201032662](https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/thinking-of-trying-dry-january-steps-for-success-202201032662)

[https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/16/business/dry-january-participation-2022/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/16/business/dry-january-participation-2022/index.html)

Encourage your employees to form healthy habits with our Better than Nothing challenge

Workplace Health and Wellness Calendar 2023

80 Prize Ideas for a Corporate Step Challenge

Using monthly themes to guide your wellness program

Help employees stay mindful about alcohol with a dry challenge

Download the MoveSpring Playbook

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