It sounds an impossible task – changing your life in 30 days. But stranger things have happened and it’s actually perfectly possible for you to join this seemingly elite club.
The first thing you need to do is start.
That’s where a crazily large majority of people fail at this task – the very first step.
Maybe they haven’t really got the motivation, maybe they haven’t truly got the bit between their teeth, maybe the pain of where they currently are doesn’t outweigh the benefits of moving on.
I’m not here to judge – you’re probably doing a much better job of that than I am already.
Instead, here are some pointers to help you change your life for the better in the next 30 days.
The best way I’ve found to beat the procrastination problem is starting right now. Not tonight or tomorrow or next week or next month or next blue moon or whatever other excuse you use for later when “later” really means never.
Right now, this minute.
Before you even finish reading this article and run the very real danger of putting this whole “change your life” thing off, maybe forever.
So read through the next point, bookmark this page or leave it open in your browser tab and start!
2. Decide what you want to change then work on it
Some things can’t be changed, although those things are few and far between.
Pick what you want to change in your life. Whether it’s your income, your weight, your confidence or something else that’s been nagging and eating away at you for longer than you care to remember.
Take the next 10 – 20 minutes or so to write a list of things to change.
Ideally, use pen and paper to do this. There’s something about the physical writing that connects more parts of our brain than just tapping away at a keyboard.
Brain dump your thoughts onto the paper. Don’t edit what you write as that interferes with the thought processes involved.
Then set the piece of paper aside – ideally overnight but definitely for an hour or so.
Then come back and rate the ideas on a scale of most to least desirable. It’s OK to have two or three at the same score but not all of them – that just means you’ve not bothered to actually give them a proper score, so go back and re-rate them!
Then pick one – just one – item that you’re going to work on over the next 30 days. Not a bucket list of items. Just one.
If it’s the first time you’ve tried using life changing methods, it’s probably worth avoiding the highest scoring items. Although it’s tempting to go for one of them, they’re probably too big for your first attempt and will only serve to dent your enthusiasm if you don’t achieve them in the next month.
Instead, pick a small-ish item.
Maybe even the smallest – one that’s been bugging you for longer than you care to admit but that you’ve never got round to addressing because it’s too small.
Chances are this will be something you can work on over the next few days and finish completely.
It probably won’t take you as long as 30 days.
But the sense of achievement will be good and that will give you the incentive to repeat the process.
Over the course of the next 12 months, you’ll be able to rid yourself of a dozen or more items from your list.
Not a complete life change in 30 days but still impressive.
3. That’s all you need to do
Yes, it sounds simple: list out the things you want to change, rank them, pick off the smallest, rinse & repeat.
That’s because it is.
We have a habit of making mountains out of mole hills.
We also tend to look around and see other people seemingly change overnight. But that overnight success takes a long time – often years.
One other thing I forgot to mention earlier, make sure that you work on the idea every single day until you’ve achieved it.
That process is invaluable – it helps tell your mind that you really mean it this time, rather than it being a vague, forlorn, hope.
I should know – it’s one of my hobbies.
