Member-only story
12 30-Day Challenges That Will Change Your Life
For some people, the best way to change a habit is with baby steps. They start incredibly small to avoid terror and procrastination and gradually work their way up from there.
But others are more the dive-right-into-the-cold-water type. For these folks, the best way to change your life is through a quick, sharp shock that promises both excitement and an instant peek at what a new lifestyle can offer.
If you’re more the latter type, 30-day challenges might be for you. By pledging to make a big change to your life for just a month, you get around the paralyzing fear of failure and the unknown by setting a definite boundary for your project. You also fire up your competitive instincts and offer yourself a real preview of a possible new life that might tempt you to continue your project once the month has passed. And what better time to start one than the start of a new year?
So what kind of changes are amenable to 30-day challenges? Tons of them. Here are some ideas culled from a variety of threads on question-and-answer site Quora, as well as an excellent James Altucher post on the topic.
1. Negotiate once a day.
“At a Starbucks? Ask for 10 percent off, for instance,” suggests Altucher. Not only will this help you get over a fear that holds many…