At the beginning of the month, you might not know anyone particularly well. But give it a few days of doing the same daily micro habit and you find yourself surprisingly invested in whether someone you've never met has done theirs that day.
The daily habit gives everyone something in common straight away. It runs through the whole month, gets people talking and, occasionally, ends up sticking around much longer. Some people love it and keep doing it. Other people decide it's absolutely not for them. Both are fine.
Then in week two, we get together on Zoom and everyone declares their Thing. This is one of my favourite bits, because despite everyone having the same Permission, the Things people choose can be completely different. You say what you're going to do, everyone else says what they're going to do and, before long, you're swapping ideas, checking in and genuinely wanting other people to do the thing they said they would.
There's a WhatsApp group too, but don't worry, nobody expects you to post constantly or become everyone's new best friend. I really don't want Do The Thing to become another thing you have to keep up with. It's there when you want the encouragement, the ideas, the occasional kick up the arse or somewhere to say, "Well, that went completely tits up."
Someone will absolutely smash their Thing. Someone else will miss four days and start again. Someone will discover something they love and someone will try something once and decide never again.
That's kind of the point. Nobody's trying to win Do The Thing. We're just having a go.
Bernie decided she'd finally start writing the book she'd been putting off for years.
She hasn't finished it, and she'd be the first to tell you that. But something else stuck: finding a way to actually make time for it.
In her words: "It's like finding a way of making the pocket happen, as opposed to wishing for the time."
Kate's Thing sounded almost too small to count: get up at seven and have a shower.
Even her mum wasn't that impressed.
But that's exactly the point. Your Thing doesn't have to look impressive to anybody else. By the end, Kate said: "I only get one life, and I'm allowed to put myself first."
And then there's Theresa and the cold shower.
It was the daily habit everyone dreaded in that first week, and she didn't exactly love it either. But she kept doing it.
Months later, it's still part of her morning.
Fancy doing your Thing with us?
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