Start Here Part 1: What Are 30 Day Trials?

Because I'm starting to promote the blog more, I should be getting a lot more readers shortly. So I've decided to write this post so I can link to it as a beginner's resource. I'm going to write a series of these if I feel it's necessary.

A 30 Day Trial is a challenge you assign yourself to do something for 30 days, every day. An example might be exercising every day, taking up a new hobby, or giving up cigarettes. Some examples of trials I've attempted:

• Going to sleep at 10:30 pm each night, and getting up at 6:30 am each morning
• Eating breakfast every day
• Giving up soft drink
• Blogging every day
• Learning C++ programming
• Eating fruit each day

As you can see, 30 Day Trials are a very versatile form of personal growth. But why do them?

If you decide to start doing something, or give something up, it's quite daunting psychologically. You start wondering if you can maintain it for months, years, even decades. Once you've started a habit, it's usually easy to continue (and if it's not after 30 days, it's probably not for you) but the whole 'permanence' thing may turn you off starting in the first place.

So you make a mental commitment to do something for 30 days. After that, you can elect to continue the habit (like I did with blogging) or discontinue it (like I did with programming). It's like cleaning. Have you ever not wanted to do something, but done it for 30 minutes, and then found that once you STARTED, it was easier to keep going? 30 Day Trials are just like that, but on a larger scale. And every trial you complete improves your self-discipline, even if you elect not to continue with the trial on a more permanent basis.

If you're looking for ideas on 30 Day Trials, or want more information, go to How To Succeed At 30 Day Trials.

The link to part 2 of this series is here.