Several aspects of the definition of challenge that
particularly resonate with me include: "a call to confrontation; a test of one’s
abilities or resources in a demanding but stimulating undertaking." Let me
elaborate. I started a blog over a year ago and hadn’t written a post in quite
a while. I was not happy with this reality. After viewing a TED Talk regarding
taking on a 30 Day Challenge, I committed to taking on the challenge of 30 consecutive
days of writing and posting to this blog. The essence of the challenge was to
engage in a specific action for 30 consecutive days in order to develop a new
habit. According to the research behind the TED Talk, it takes about 30 consecutive
days to turn a behavior into a habit. I was initially apprehensive about the 30
day commitment, specifically around being able to come up with something
different each day to write about that was potentially valuable to the reader
and personally meaningful.
What unfolded during the 30 Day Challenge was profound for
me on a myriad of levels. If you’ve been following the blog for the past 30
days, or tuned in at some point during the challenge, you would have witnessed
that I was able to come up with a fresh topic to explore for each of the 30
days. I also accumulated a notebook filled with potential blog topics and discovered
that there is an entire world out there of engaging ideas. Additionally, many
of you generously shared topics to explore in future blog posts. My perceptual
filters have expanded to notice potential blog topics in every experience. In
other words, writing and posting for 30 consecutive days shifted my way of
experiencing and moving through the world – a major paradigm shift.
Was it challenging at times to turn an idea into a post and
sit down and write every day? You bet it was! Ironically, the most challenging
days turned into some of my favorite posts. How did I get through the most
confronting days? I did it by reconnecting with my original commitment; on each
particularly challenging day, I asked myself if I was still committed to the 30
Day Challenge. The answer was always yes.
Many of you asked about what will follow my initial
challenge regarding the blog and taking on another 30 Day Challenge. With
regard to the blog, the 30 Day Challenge worked its magic. Much to my delight,
the blog writing habit is established and I am thoroughly enjoying exploring
the various topics that float through my mind. I sincerely hope you find
personal meaning in my observations and reflective questions. With regard to my
next 30 Day Challenge, I’m exploring several possibilities and will choose one
by the end of this week. When I ran a few options by several dear friends, the
consensus was that these would be hard to do for 30 consecutive days. That’s the
point! The beauty of a challenge is that it’s both confrontational and calls
one to confront internal and external roadblocks. When the confrontations are
in service of a personally stimulating and meaningful endeavor, growth and
paradigm shifting occur on levels beyond one’s imagination. It’s worth the confrontation
and the resultant stretching of personal resources.
In what area of you life do you want to experience a
paradigm shift? What 30 Day Challenge will you commit to?
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