Photo: Ebilien

Photo: Ebelien

Ok, Matthew Cutts is no Jill Bolten-Taylor (if you haven’t seen her TED talk, you must), but the reason I like this guy’s talk is that it fits perfectly with my main message – small changes lead to dramatic results – and it’s less than four minutes long.

The Nut:

In case you haven’t noticed, the calendar pages are flipping by like they are caught by the wind. By committing to making small changes for 30 days, you can take back control of the calendar and start making the changes and accomplishing the goals that always seem to be just out of reach.

Research has shown that it takes approximately 30 days to create a new habit. And thirty days is short enough that you can endure just about anything if it is important enough to you. And after it’s over, you can go back to being the old you (if you liked the old you better)!

Some of the things that Matthew did in a month? Biked to work every day for 30 days, stopped eating sugar, and wrote a novel in 30 days.

The power in making small changes over short periods is that the commitment level is low, the benefits are high, and it continually builds your self-confidence and willpower to take on bigger challenges. And you don’t have to turn your world completely upside down.

Best quote:

“Now when I meet Jon Hodgeman at a TED party and he asks what I do, I don’t have to say I’m a computer scientist at Google. I can say I’m a novelist!”

What is your 30-day challenge? I love to hear about the results!