A few years ago, I felt like I was stuck in a rut, so I
decided to follow in the footsteps of the great
American philosopher, Morgan Spurlock, and try
something new for 30 days. The idea is actually
pretty simple. Think about something you've always
wanted to add to your life and try it for the next 30
days. It turns out 30 days is just about the right
amount of time to add a new habit or subtract a
habit -- like watching the news -- from your life.
There's a few things I learned while doing these 30-
day challenges. The first was, instead of the
months flying by, forgotten, the time was much
more memorable. This was part of a challenge I did
to take a picture every day for a month. And I
remember exactly where I was and what I was
doing that day. I also noticed that as I started to do
more and harder 30-day challenges, my self-
confidence grew. I went from desk-dwelling
computer nerd to the kind of guy who bikes to
work. For fun!
Even last year, I ended up hiking up Mt. Kilimanjaro,
the highest mountain in Africa. I would never have
been that adventurous before I started my 30-day
challenges.
I also figured out that if you really want something
badly enough, you can do anything for 30 days.
Have you ever wanted to write a novel? Every
November, tens of thousands of people try to write
their own 50,000-word novel, from scratch, in 30
days. It turns out, all you have to do is write 1,667
words a day for a month. So I did. By the way, the
secret is not to go to sleep until you've written your
words for the day. You might be sleep-deprived, but
you'll finish your novel. Now is my book the next
great American novel? No. I wrote it in a month. It's
awful.
But for the rest of my life, if I meet John Hodgman
at a TED party, I don't have to say, "I'm a computer
scientist." No, no, if I want to, I can say, "I'm a
novelist."
So here's one last thing I'd like to mention. I learned
that when I made small, sustainable changes,
things I could keep doing, they were more likely to
stick. There's nothing wrong with big, crazy
challenges. In fact, they're a ton of fun. But they're
less likely to stick. When I gave up sugar for 30
days, day 31 looked like this.
So here's my question to you: What are you waiting
for? I guarantee you the next 30 days are going to
pass whether you like it or not, so why not think
about something you have always wanted to try and
give it a shot! For the next 30 days.
quizlet vocab: https://quizlet.com/_6sw0dp
(copy the link and paste it in your browser)
Vocabulary:
stuck in a rut
habit
memorable
adventurous
novel
secret
sustainable
to stick
give it a shot