In the past weeks, I had written much about the hype around what motivational speakers preach and how it can mess with you getting ahead. Yes, this can hurt your pursuit of success.

This turned out to be a rather long article, split into 2 parts: the first discussed visualizing for success and what the 10-000 hour rule is really about, while the second part was on planning and its side effects.

This time round, I am following up with some practical tips to help you make progress in what you are doing or plan to do. Specifically, we’ll look at the 30-day challenge and how to use daily reminders.

The 30-Day Challenge — Getting Ahead by Getting Good at Something

Most of us, especially working adults, don’t have 10,000 hours to dedicate to perfecting a skill. Anyway, we’ve already learned this notion of 10k hours is somewhat misguided advice which doesn’t work for many pursuits.

Now, it’s certainly worth drilling this revelation into the mind, in case you are still wavering. Accept that that guru wasn’t right.

So, if we were to embark on being good at something, what should we be doing?

In his podcasts, Shane Melaugh (of ActiveGrowth.com) brought up an approach he called the “30-day challenge.” This is where you work on an activity each day for a continuous stretch of 30 days, without dropping off.

After that period, you evaluate the results to assess how much the challenge helped you in getting ahead.

Learn New Skills, Hone Current Ones

The said activity could be a skill you want to learn but haven’t got started on. In such a case, you can try the 30-day test to get familiar with requisite tasks which the skill requires. Afterwards, you can decide if you’re keen to pursue it, based on your actual experience doing those things.

If you decide to stop, there would be no regret that you did not give yourself the chance to try. If you choose to stay with it, you are more likely to be on the way to honing the skill and getting to a proficient level.

Similarly, if you are thinking of improving a skill, start a 30-day challenge to work on an area you aren’t so good at now. Shane gave an example of himself recording a video each day, without fail, so that he could up his video production quality.

Indeed, constant practice each day can help to build up experience and expertise along the way — soon, you’ll find that you are indeed better at working that skill than before.

A 30-day challenge is much easier to start with and its benefits can often be readily felt. There is also a clear-cut evaluation and decision process to deal with ensuing results.

With such an easy approach to getting ahead, shouldn’t you start challenging yourself to be good at something?

Experiencing My Very Own 30-day Challenge

Without realising it, I had embarked on a 30-day challenge since July by getting back into regular exercise. A month and a half have passed since, meaning I have successfully completed the challenge; and am continuing with my weekly workouts.

So, what was my verdict after those first 30 days?

Somehow, it felt much different this time round compared to previous attempts at keeping the body physically fit and healthy. I will hazard a guess that exercise with a mix of cardio activities and strength training workouts provide variety which sustains interest.

For me, there was hardly any dread the whole month of July when I needed to hit the gym on non-rest days. It was like I actually looked forward to exercise, much like I would enjoy a meal of succulent steak or shabu shabu hotpot.

Come to think of it, I should reward myself once in a while with such nice meals after a good workout, so that I can beef up (pun intended) my body taking a balanced approach to healthy living. Yes, I will do this, surely — am I getting ahead of myself here?

Without much doubt, exercise has now become a habit for me. What a positive outcome from an unplanned 30-day challenge 🙂

Daily Reminders — Big Little Idea for Getting Ahead Positively

In teaching how to go about making a 30-day challenge productive, Shane also mentioned the idea of using a daily reminder.

This reminder comes in the form of a note (which you wrote prior) that you’d read each morning, as you start your day. The idea is to begin each day with the correct message in the mind as to what change or habit it is that you want to install or form.

Reading this reminder must be done in earnest and not as a casual activity. Seriousness is no doubt required for getting ahead, even in a simple task like this.

Of course, you can have more than one reminder when there are various changes you want to tackle. Just make sure you write them all down and not try to keep them in the head. Reading a physical note can make a big difference!

For Shane, his reminders are stored in a document file on his mobile phone. He starts his day by dedicating a few serious minutes to read them.

To ensure there is focus on reading your reminders, Shane suggests not to stick post-it notes on mirrors or any where convenient. Keep your reminders somewhere so that you will have to make an effort to fetch them and spend quality time reading through.

What’s in a Daily Reminder?

A daily reminder needn’t be a complicated thing. It’s just a couple of sentences to reiterate and remind oneself of what not to do and why; and what to do instead.

As an example, since Shane was discussing the “Shiny Object Syndrome” in his podcast, a useful reminder would be “to stop looking at Email, blog posts and sales pages promoting offers of new (shiny) tools…”

And “because these are a major form of distraction! Rather, stay focussed on the current course of action to complete the project” would provide a good reason to pursue the change.

I can certainly think of a strong reminder for myself, which is to stay away from social media until the late part of the day; and only spend minutes checking out stuff and responding while at it.

What about you? Have you thought of ways to get better at what you currently do? Are there reminders you will consider writing and subsequently reading daily, until you set positive change in motion?

We Shouldn’t… Mustn’t… Can’t Wait for Tomorrow

I will even go as far as saying we don’t wait for tomorrow.

Most times, we have enough resources on our hands right now to continue with what we are doing. So we can move along and get ahead.

Why give ourselves an excuse to stall, just because the plan said so?

If a critical item were deemed only to become available later, other parts of a project can usually proceed without hindrance. Even if a dead stop arises, evaluating the current situation can illuminate new and perhaps viable paths not envisioned before.

However, plain waiting will just be a waste of time. Instead of getting ahead, you will soon find you have actually fallen behind!

Remember: waiting for resources you don’t yet have will only mean not acting now. Yet, as Dr. Scott Sonenshein said in his book “Stretch”, we can indeed work with existing resources and use them in unconventional ways to move nearer to our goal.

I found a YouTube video of Dr. Scott addressing a Google audience, speaking of the lessons from his book. I suggest you watch it and listen intently — and if you have been stuck, Scott’s book might just open your mind… on resourcefulness.

The Gurus Will Always Be There — Just Keep Your Distance

One thing about gurus: they will always be there. Another: new ones will surface, preaching much the same. But you don’t have to fall for their rah-rah and be excited over nothing.

Always be mindful of evaluating the people selling mind-blowing stuff in crowd-pulling events which seem to promise positive change. Your wallet will surely thank you, for most times these seminars and courses come up short.

People have discovered that a few days after their attendance, whatever feel-good vibes they had experienced have dissipated. It’s like they had received a shot in the arm while the party was going on.

For sure, drastic change can happen for some people, as a minority of participants will dedicate themselves to see through the re-modelling actions applicable to them. These people then become the rare but alluring testimonies and success stories which help promote the gurus.

But no one talks of those who have tried — and this group surely outnumbers the minority — but didn’t make it. Success is sexy and speaks volumes, while failure is best kept quiet since it doesn’t aid in selling.

And Beware of Buying Comfort

By and large, other participants will just live with the comfort of new-found knowledge, which they will keep at the back of their minds. These would mostly be people who aren’t prepared to put in the work.

There will also be those who did not get swayed by the gurus. Whichever camp these participants are in, nothing drastic is gonna come out of them. Of course, I’d prefer you did not have to part with your hard-earned money.

Now that you know, don’t be taken in because a big-name guru said something… and everyone is regurgitating it like a life-saving panacea.

Try a 30-Day Challenge

Take time to consider any new way of thinking — it could actually be old stuff, but recycled, for that matter! — and do some research to get insights.

If it helps, start a 30-day challenge to test drive an idea or a change you want to embrace. Something will come out of this, big or small. Much better than staying put at status quo and wishing!

Don’t be shy to share your challenge by leaving a comment. Who knows, you might just inspire someone to quit sitting on their back.

By the way, I started another challenge at the beginning of this month: to wake up each day at 6am. I had planned for this to happen in July, but I got distracted and wasn’t that committed — yes, my plan failed!

And I’m still trying; with not much success. I’ll be up before 6.50am weekdays, but back in bed after seeing my son off at school. It doesn’t help that most nights I sleep late!

Still, the challenge goes on… it’s not time yet to give up 🙂