A couple of months ago, I wrote an article about trying something new for 30 days.
The idea came from a TED Talk by Matt Cutts, who decided to write a book in 30 days. It's a great way to tick something off your life list, learn something new or make time for something you've always wanted to do.
I decided to try and write my own book in 30 days and just to make things interesting, I went to Paris to do it.
Here are 10 things I learned from trying something new for 30 days:
- The first week is the hardest. Get into a routine and stick to it.
- There will be days that you will want to skip, but don't! Just push through.
- Once you're past the halfway mark it gets much easier. You actually start to like it because you notice the difference it makes to your life.
- It's hard to be disciplined. Despite your good intentions, when you're tired, you've got a splitting headache or you want to go out and do anything else, you must summon all of your willpower to stay focussed.
- Have a goal. I wanted to write a book so I made sure I took the steps every day to do it. You may want to achieve something else like do a chin up or read War and Peace. Once you know your goal, you can set daily targets to reach it.
- Make it fun. You decided to do this new thing because you wanted to. Don't make it a burden; make it something you look forward to.
- Tell people about your plans. The more people you tell, the more likely you will be to stick to it because they'll keep asking you about it.
- Try to encourage other people to do it too. On the days where it all just feels too hard you can work on it together (or just whinge together).
- Reward yourself at the end.
- Set a new goal and try something new the following month.
August is just around the corner. If you're thinking of trying something new, why not start next month? Write a comment and start telling other people about it.