It’s that time again…
The ball has dropped. It’s a new year. And many people have picked their annual “resolution.”
Unfortunately it’s been my experience that New Year’s Resolutions are a complete waste of time. Even worse – Some resolutions actually prevent people from achieving their goals.
Think of it this way… Imagine it’s the final minutes of year. You make a resolution simply because everyone else is doing it. [click to continue…]
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When I first started this blog, one of the things I did was try a concept called the 30-Day Habit Experiment.
Today I’d like to talk about this concept; why I initially failed with it; and how it’s now helping me get incredible results with my Internet lifestyle.
The 30-Day Habit Experiment (30DHE) is a popular concept in personal development. The idea is simple. You “test drive” a habit for a month and see if it sticks.
We all want to live better lives. Lose weight. Quit smoking. Make more friends. Get that promotion. Find that special someone. These are all goals people make for themselves. But they often fail because it’s hard to make a permanent change to their behavior.
The reason people fail is because ‘forever’ seems like, well…FOREVER. If you wanted to quit smoking, it’s really hard to say you’ll never have another cigarette.
With the 30DHE, you don’t talk about forever. Instead you make the promise to develop (or change) a habit for only a month. That’s it. After the month is over, you evaluate this habit and decide if you want to keep doing it.
Back in January of 2010, I implemented the 30DHE. It worked well for a few months. In fact, I started a number of habits that I still do on a daily basis. Unfortunately I stopped this experiment while I spent seven months in Europe. I guess I didn’t develop the habit of sticking with the 30 day habit. 
This March I decided to reintroduce the thirty day habit. This time I wanted it to stick. So I made sure each habit was applicable to my Internet Lifestyle. For instance, here are a few habits I’ve successfully implemented:
(To learn more about this habit, read my free Book Empire 2011 report which talks about the importance of writing on a daily basis.)
My goal is simple. All I have to do is use Twitter once a day and talk to people. This goes beyond the automated content that I’ve done in the past. Instead I try to form actual relationships with the people I’ve met online.
So far, I’ve managed to develop four habits in four months. Not a bad start if you ask me. Hopefully I’ll develop many more habits in the months to come!
The key to the 30DHE is tracking. I use a single document to track my daily habits. This goes on the same clipboard as my projects and weekly to-do list.
What I do is list each of the habits in a column and check it off when I’ve done it that day. I also set my iPhone to ring daily. This helps me remember that I need to complete this tracking sheet.
Here’s a PDF version of this file —> Monthly Habit Tracking Sheet
Feel free to print this out and use it on your own. You’ll discover this is a great way develop success habits.
What habits should you develop? That depends on you. My advice is to cultivate a habit that’s critical to the current skill you’re trying to develop. This makes it easier to follow through with your goal.
If you’re stuck, then check out my post on the 42 Internet Lifestyle Habits to Develop. These are concepts I’ve implemented in my business. Perhaps one of them will be the genesis for the next habit you develop.
The 30DHE can have an amazing impact on your Internet productivity. So be sure to test it out. Try a different habit each month. Who knows? You might develop a powerful routine that leads to lots of online success.
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You’ve probably realized by now that making a change in your lifestyle—which usually involves developing a new habit to take the place of a bad one—is hard. Really hard.
Back in January, I offered some insight about an “experiment” I found on Steve Pavlina’s website. He suggested giving yourself a 30-day “trial run” when attempting a new habit, similar to the risk-free 30-day trials that companies offer consumers before they have to make a final decision whether or not they’re going to purchase a product or service. After your 30 Day Habit Trial, you can decide if you want to stick with your new habit or go back to your old ways. [click to continue…]
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Here’s a really interesting guest post by Jonathan of the Grokkery site. In the following article he discusses a few simple changes you can make to your life in order to make a dramatic change. What I really liked is how he used 30 day trials to develop new habits. This is something I used to do before I left on trip to Europe. But I’ll definitely be implementing this habit again once I’m back in a normal reality. Anyway, I definitely recommend you implement the following techniques…
I passionately, fiercely believe that to change your life, you must begin with self awareness. [click to continue…]
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It’s time for the 5th installment of the 30 Day Success Habits Series. (A monthly column where I discuss the habits that I’m trying to develop for the next 30 days)
For the month of May, I’m going to do something that will really push my comfort zone. It’s something that I’ve done in a past, but got out of the habit in the last few years. [click to continue…]
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It’s time for the monthly update on the April results of the 30 Day Success Habits Series. (A monthly column where I discuss the habits that I’m trying to develop for the next 30 days)
As I said in my introduction of the April success habit, my goal was to use a doorknob as a quick reminder to take a pause and think about whatever I’m thankful for at that very moment. [click to continue…]
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