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 everyday 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. "
(Laughter)
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.
(Laughter)
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.
Thanks.
(Applause)
