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