The Arc Setup Checklist

Two files, both A4 (US Letter coming soon), free, no email, no watermark:

harder-arc-checklist-1page (1 page) - all 20 checks plus contract fields. Print it, stick it somewhere visible. Download the A4 PDF.

harder-arc-setup-checklist (5 pages) - the same checks with the reasoning under each, a format comparison, and a full contract page to sign. Download the A4 PDF.

Start date and end date written down. Not 'October-ish.' Two dates.

Three to five rules. Not six. Ten-rule lists look serious on day one and collapse by week two.

Every rule scoreable yes/no in ten seconds. 'Did I train today' is scoreable at 11pm. 'Did I eat well today' is a debate you will win.

One rule that has nothing to do with fitness. An arc that's only training is a training block. Reading, money, sleep, a skill - pick one.

A minimum version written for every rule. One page instead of ten. Five minutes instead of an hour.

Floor written in week one, not week six. In week six you're negotiating. In week one you're designing. These are different people.

A floor day counts as a full day. Not a half day, not an asterisk. If the floor is a demotion you won't use it - and the floor is what carries you through the dead zone.

Travel and holiday days pre-marked as floor days. You already know where they are on the calendar. Mark them now.

One written line: what actually counts as breaking it. The arc format gives you none. Supply your own or the arc has nothing holding it up.

A rate target, not a streak target. 80 of 92. 84 of 92. A number you can miss days against and still hit.

Missed day marked missed. No restart. A single missed day doesn't materially affect habit formation. Treating it as a reset is how people quit in November.

Rules locked: one revision allowed, day 45, in writing. Unlimited revision is why arcs get amended into nothing. One window, one time, written down.

One person who will notice if you stop. Not a cheerleader. Someone who will ask.

Proof format decided before day one. Photo, screenshot, log entry - pick one and don't change it mid-arc.

Proof captured same day, never rebuilt later. Reconstructed proof is a story about a day, not a record of one.

Proof stored where the whole run is visible. Seeing 40 days at once does something that seeing today does not.

Week 5 review already in the calendar. The dead zone arrives on schedule. Meet it with a decision instead of a mood.

Pre-decided: lower the bar, never add to it. The instinct at day 35 is to add intensity to feel serious again. Don't.

Written answer to 'I missed two in a row, now what.' Write it while you're clear-headed. Two misses is the moment arcs die.

End date in the calendar as a real event. An arc with a vague ending doesn't end. It fades.

Score: sixteen checks or fewer means you have a plan for the first three weeks. All twenty means you have a plan for the whole arc.

Length - Arc: ~90 days, fixed end. 75 Hard: 75 days, fixed. Habit tracker: indefinite.

Rules - Arc: you write them. 75 Hard: prescribed, non-negotiable. Habit tracker: you write them.

Missed day - Arc: continues, no reset. 75 Hard: restart at day 1. Habit tracker: streak breaks.

Failure condition - Arc: none. 75 Hard: severe. Habit tracker: none.

Finish line - Arc: yes. 75 Hard: yes. Habit tracker: no.

It dies by - Arc: fading. 75 Hard: restarting. Habit tracker: never ending.

The arc is the best-designed of the three. It's also the only one with nothing holding it up - which is what the twenty checks above are for.

The checklist gets you to day one. What gets you to day 92 is a sheet with a box for every action on every day, and a rate you're scoring against instead of a streak you're protecting. That's the arc tracker - free, dated and undated.

Every check above is a workaround for one missing piece: the arc asks you to be your own architect, every day, including the days you have nothing left to give it. Most people can build the arc. Almost nobody can rebuild it on day 34.

Harder is a challenge platform built on the opposite premise. The structure comes pre-built, a day isn't done until you post proof, and missed days never move the finish line. It launches in October, the same week the 2026 winter arc starts.

What are the rules of an arc challenge? There's no official list - that's the format's defining feature. Four things are fixed in practice: a written start and end date, three to five daily rules you set yourself, rules specific enough to score yes or no, and no restart when you miss. Everything else is yours to write, which is both the appeal and the weakness. Full explanation here.

How many rules should an arc have? Three to five. Five is the practical ceiling. Every rule should be binary, because a rule you can argue with at 11pm is a rule you will lose to.

What is a floor version of a rule? The minimum that still counts on your worst day - one page instead of ten, five minutes instead of an hour. Write it in week one, and make it count as a full day rather than a partial one. It's the single most useful thing on this checklist and the most commonly skipped.

Do I need an accountability partner? You need someone who will notice if you stop, which is narrower than a partner and more useful. Be careful with the statistic you'll see quoted at 65% or 95% success with an accountability partner - there's no traceable primary source for it. What does hold up is that external structure and social visibility are the two interventions here that survive scrutiny, and internal motivation on its own does not.

When should I do this checklist? Before day one. Undefined rules are how arcs end, and you can't write them on day 55 because by then you're negotiating rather than designing.