Try something new for 30 days | Matt Cutts

1,285,793 views ・ 2011-07-01

TED


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:15
A few years ago, I felt like I was stuck in a rut,
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so I decided to follow in the footsteps
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of the great American philosopher, Morgan Spurlock,
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and try something new for 30 days.
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The idea is actually pretty simple.
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Think about something you've always wanted to add to your life
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and try it for the next 30 days.
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It turns out 30 days is just about the right amount of time
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to add a new habit or subtract a habit --
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like watching the news --
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from your life.
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There's a few things I learned while doing these 30-day challenges.
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The first was,
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instead of the months flying by, forgotten,
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the time was much more memorable.
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This was part of a challenge I did to take a picture every day for a month.
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And I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing that day.
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I also noticed
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that as I started to do more and harder 30-day challenges,
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my self-confidence grew.
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I went from desk-dwelling computer nerd
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to the kind of guy who bikes to work.
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For fun!
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(Laughter)
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Even last year, I ended up hiking up Mt. Kilimanjaro,
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the highest mountain in Africa.
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I would never have been that adventurous before I started my 30-day challenges.
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I also figured out that if you really want something badly enough,
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you can do anything for 30 days.
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Have you ever wanted to write a novel?
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Every November,
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tens of thousands of people
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try to write their own 50,000-word novel, from scratch,
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in 30 days.
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It turns out, all you have to do is write 1,667 words a day
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for a month.
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So I did.
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By the way, the secret is not to go to sleep
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until you've written your words for the day.
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You might be sleep-deprived,
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but you'll finish your novel.
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Now is my book the next great American novel?
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No. I wrote it in a month.
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It's awful.
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(Laughter)
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But for the rest of my life,
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if I meet John Hodgman at a TED party,
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I don't have to say,
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"I'm a computer scientist."
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No, no, if I want to, I can say, "I'm a novelist."
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(Laughter)
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So here's one last thing I'd like to mention.
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I learned that when I made small, sustainable changes,
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things I could keep doing,
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they were more likely to stick.
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There's nothing wrong with big, crazy challenges.
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In fact, they're a ton of fun.
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But they're less likely to stick.
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When I gave up sugar for 30 days,
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day 31 looked like this.
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(Laughter)
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So here's my question to you:
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What are you waiting for?
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I guarantee you the next 30 days
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are going to pass whether you like it or not,
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so why not think about something you have always wanted to try
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and give it a shot!
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For the next 30 days.
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Thanks.
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(Applause)
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