30 Day Challenge

Thirty days well thirty-one days to be exact since I started this lovely adventure in blogging. When I tell people I have started a blog, one of the questions they ask is “Do you get paid?” My response is simply “No.–Well, at least not yet”. There is some money in blogging with the right advertising, but as of now, no.

The next question they ask,”Then why do you do it?”

Why do I blog? That’s a good question. Part of me wanted just to see if I could do it. It was and is a challenge; one I was committing to daily. I needed to come up with what to write, take pictures, plan, draft, revise, edit, format, market my blog posts, plus have a daily idea, write about it, and making it engaging enough, so that I actually had followers. Sheesh! They are right; it is a lot of work with no pay, but it was the challenge that enticed me.

Today I was reminded of why I took on this adventure when I watched a TEDx clip presented by Matt Cutts, a Google engineer, called Try Something New for 30 Days (watch it here–super inspirational.). We were asked to show it to our students as part of an introduction to a TEDx event we will have in the spring. As I watched it, it really reiterated why I started blogging.

In his TED Talk about committing to a 30 day challenge, he made two great points:

1. The months will no longer fly by instead events will be more memorable.

2. Bigger isn’t always better, so choose small, sustainable changes.

Now if that clip didn’t inspire you, I certainly won’t be able to through my writing, but it inspired me. I thought about how I gave blogging a try for 30 days, and how I could probably choose something new to try this month for 30 days. Seeing as it is the first day of February, today would be the perfect day to start the challenge.

Apparently, there is a lot of inspiration out there including  websites, social media pages (facebook & pinterest) and even apps, that can help you achieve your 30 day goals. It’s up to you to figure out what challenge is for you. Below is a list of possible challenges I brainstormed. The other links might have more to inspire you, so they are worth checking out.

30 Day Challenge Possibilities

• take a daily picture — I’ve seen this one on Facebook.
• 15-20 minutes of movement — Time to get active.
• 20 minutes of me time — All the busy moms this needs to happen.
• daily flossing — Because we are supposed to, right?
• decluttering: purging one item a day — sounds freeing
• consuming veggies for two meals — I’m sure three would be better, but two is challenging enough.
• paying a complement to someone — heartwarming
• train for a race — a 5k, half or full marathon
• make all meals at home — Essentially, no take out-so hard!
• try something new each day — The inspiration for this blog.

So, I made it through the first 30 days of my yearly challenge. Although the intention–and name– behind my blog, implies I will be writing every day, I was able to complete a blog post 17 of the 30 days. That is half the amount I was aiming for initially when creating my blueprint. Not great, but I also don’t feel like I failed. There is just room for improvement.

Now February is a short month, so really this will be a 28 day challenge. But, a challenge is a challenge nonetheless. What is something that you’ve always wanted to try? Can you give it a go for the next 28 days?

Comment below with a challenge you will try.