30 days (up to) success

A powerful tool for personal development - a 30-day experiment. I borrowed this idea from industry shareware, where you can download a trial version and use it free for 30 days before you buy the full version. It is also a great way to develop new habits, and best of all - it's very simple.

Let's say you want to develop a new habit, like morning exercise, or get rid of the habit of sucking on cancer sticks. We all know that the most difficult thing - to start a new habit and follow the first few weeks. Once you overcome the inertia, continue to be much easier.

Yes, we often nervous, thinking about the beginning of something new, how about something all the time - even before we start to do it. Daunting task seems to make a big step and do this every day until the end of life, especially if the habit of pulling in the other direction. The more you think about the change as something permanent, the faster your hands fall.

But what if you think about the changes in time - say for 30 days - and then be able to return to their old habits? It does not seem so serious. Doing exercises just 30 days - and then stop. To maintain the purity of the desktop within 30 days - and then score. Read for an hour 30 days in a row - and then go back to watching TV.

Can you do that? Yes, it requires a bit of discipline and commitment, but not nearly as much as in life-long change. Any loss of comfort - just a temporary inconvenience. You can count the days to freedom. And these 30 days, and you still favor some bring. Not so bad. You will be able to stand it. It's only a month of your life.

What happens when the 30-day period istёchёt? First, you visit far enough to develop a new habit, and follow it will be much easier than in the beginning. Second, during this time you weaken the influence of old habits. In the third place, behind you will have 30 days of success that will strengthen the faith in their own strength to continue. Finally, paying 30 days, you get a result that will give feedback about what can be expected to continue to live with the new habit. You will have the necessary information to make a reasonable and lasting solution.

So as soon as you finish the 30-day trial period, significantly increase the possibility to leave the habit for good. But even if the decision to make a permanent habit is born, you will be able to extend the trial period to 60 or 90 days. The longer the trial period, the easier you will be able to consolidate the habit of a lifetime.

Another benefit of this approach is that you can test a new habit, if you are not sure whether to leave her forever. Maybe you want to try a new diet, but do not know whether it will be too difficult for you. Then try it for 30 days and then draw conclusions. Do not be ashamed to stay, if you learn that a new habit you are approached. It's just like working with a 30-day Trial program, and then uninstall it, if it is not approached. No harm and consequences.

Here are a few examples from my life, I used the 30-day experiment to develop a new habit:

1. In the summer of 1993, I decided to try vegetarianism. I do not want to become a vegetarian for life, but I have read about the great benefits of vegetarianism for health, so I vowed to get a 30-day experience. By the time I went in for sports, health and weight were normal, but my institute's "diet" consisted of some hamburgers at home and on the street. Become a vegetarian for 30 days was much easier than I expected. I would even say that it was not hard at all, and I never felt deprived. A week later, I noticed that the increased efficiency and the ability to concentrate, his head is much clearer. At the end of 30 days I have no doubt that to continue. The move seemed to me much more complicated than it really was.

2. In January 1997, I decided to try to become a "vegan". If vegetarians can eat eggs and milk, vegans do not eat animal. I have developed an interest to become a vegan, but do not think I could dare to take this step. How could I give up my favorite cheese omelet? This diet seemed to me too limiting - it is difficult to imagine how. But it was very interesting, what it might be like. So one day I started a 30-day experiment. Then I thought I could go through a probationary period, but was not planning to continue afterwards. Yes, I have lost more than three kilos in the first week, mostly on trips to the bathroom, where I left the whole milk gluten from your body (now I know why cows need four stomach. :) I was overwhelmed by the first few days, but then tide energy. The head became lighter than ever before, as though the fog; I felt as if my head did upgrade the processor and RAM. However, the biggest change I noticed my endurance. I was living in Marina del Rey, a suburb of Los Angeles, which is usually running on the beach next to the pier Santa Monica. I noticed that do not get tired after a five-kilometer run, and I began to increase the distance up to 8 km, 15 km, and finally run a marathon (42 km) a few years later. Increased Stamina also helped me to improve my skills in Tak Von Till. The net result has been so great that the food, which I refused, I have ceased to attract. Again, I was not planning to continue after 30 days, but, nevertheless, since I - vegan. What I did not expect, so it is that after using a diet of animal food that I had eaten more food does not seem to me at all, so I do not feel any hardship.

3. Again, in 1997, I decided to go in for sports every day throughout the year. It was my New Year's Resolution. The reason was that if I engage in aerobic exercise at least 25 minutes a day, I can not go to school Taek Won Do, who picked me 2-3 days per week. In combination with my new diet, I decided to pick up his physical state to a new level. I do not want to lose a single day, even because of illness. But think about charging for 365 days was somehow frightening. So I decided to start a 30-day experiment. It was not so bad. At the end of each day, I set a new personal record: 8 days, 10, 15, ... has become more difficult to quit ... After 30 days, I could not continue 31 minutes and set a new personal record? And can you imagine to give up after 250 days? Never. After the first month, which strengthened the habit, the rest of the year went by inertia. I remember that year went to the seminar and returned home well after midnight. I had a cold and was very tired, but still at 2am went for a jog in the rain. Some may find it silly, but I was so determined to reach their goal, I did not admit to fatigue or illness stop me. I have successfully reached the end of the year without missing a day. I even went on a few months later, before decided to stay, and it was a difficult decision. I would like to play sports for a year, knowing that it will be a great experience for me, so it happened.

4. Again about diet ... A few years later, after I became a vegan, I decided to try other varieties of vegan diets. I spent a 30-day experiment to macrobiotic diet for raw food. It was interesting and gave me some understanding, but I decided not to continue the diet. I did not feel any difference between them. Although raw food diet gave me a small burst of energy, I have noticed that it is too difficult, I spent a lot of time cooking and buying food. Of course, you can just eat raw fruits and vegetables, but to cook interesting dishes, you need a lot of time and effort. If I had my own personal chef, I probably would have followed this diet because it felt would benefit. I tried another experiment 45-day raw food diet, but my conclusions are the same. If I found a serious illness, such as cancer, I would have immediately switched to a diet of raw "live" food, because I am sure that this is absolutely the best diet for optimal health. I have never felt more workable than when eating raw food. But it turned hard to stick to a diet in practice. But, nevertheless, I have added some ideas of macrobiotic and raw food in your diet. In Las Vegas, there are two restaurants with the "raw" food, and I like them, because someone else prepares everything for me.

Thus, the 30-day experiment was a success and gave me a new point of view, although in both cases I intentionally declined to new habits. One of the reasons why 30 days of the experiment is so important for a new diet - the first couple of weeks of leave for detoxification and overcoming old habits, so until the third week of hard to get the whole picture. I think that if you try the diet for less than 30 days, you just do not understand it. Each diet - is different in nature and have different effects.

It seems that this method is the 30-day experiment, ideal for daily habits. I could not use it to develop the habit, which was repeated every 3-4 days a week. But this approach can work, if you start a daily 30-day experiment, and then reduce the number of times a week. This is exactly what I do when I start a new program of sports activities. Daily habits are much easier to work out.

Here are a few ideas for a 30-day experiment:
Discard the TV. Record your favorite programs and store them until the end of the period. One day my whole family to do so, and it shed light on many things.
Discard the forums, especially if they feel by addiction. This will help to break the habit and will clearly feel that gives you the participation in them (if at all makes). You can always continue after 30 days.
Wash, bathe, shave every day. Yes, you do not need, so that transfers to another :)
Every day, meet up with someone new. Start a conversation with a stranger.
Come out for a walk every evening. Every time go to a new place and have fun - you will remember this month for a lifetime!
Invest 30 minutes a day cleaning the house or office. It's only 15 hours.
Sell ​​every day something on ebay.com (molotok.ru). Get rid of this garbage.
Ask someone new every day about the date. Even if the success rate is less than three, you will have at least one appointment, maybe you will even meet the half.
If you already have a lasting relationship - make your partner a massage every day. Or arrange a massage to each other for 15 times each.
Give up cigarettes, soda, junk food, coffee or other bad habits.
Get up early in the morning.
Keep your own personal diary every day.
Each day a different call relatives, friends or business partners.
Make 25 cold calls a day to prepare the ground for new business. Professional Mike Ferry did this five days a week for two years, even in the days when he led seminars. He argues that this habit has helped him build his business, which brings more than $ 10 million in sales annually. If you make 1,300 cold calls a year, the business will benefit, regardless of your sales skills. You can extend this habit to any marketing work, for example, to register new links to your site.
Write to your blog every day.
An hour a day to read the topic that interests you.
Meditate every day.
Teach one foreign words in a day.
Every day, go for a walk on foot.

Again, I do not think you need to continue any of these habits at the end of 30 days. Think about what the effect will be only on those 30 days. At the end of the period you will be able to evaluate the experience and results. And they will be, even if you decide not to continue.

The strength of this approach - in its simplicity. Despite the fact that the repetition of a specific action every day may be less effective than following the more difficult schedule (an excellent example - weight training, because they require adequate breaks), more likely, you fix it a daily habit. When you repeat something every day without a break, you can not justify the omission of one day or promise yourself to do it later by changing the schedule.