Chapter 11
30-DAY CHALLENGES
Hopefully, after reading the two preceding chapters, you’re feeling motivated to begin the process of eliminating the toxic elements in your life. That small, still voice inside is whispering, “It’s time to stop drinking so much,” or “Doing drugs on the weekend is prohibiting you from reaching your full potential.”
I like to think that inner voice of truth—that’s always available to provide the highest answer—is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit (also known as the Spirit of Truth) is always aligned with the highest part of your being, and is consistently connected to “God’s Will” for your life. God’s Will for your life will always bring you complete joy, peace of mind, and inner strength. You just have to stop the outer noise, get quiet, and listen.
I’ll discuss the Holy Spirit in greater detail in Chapter 36.
For now, let’s just say that you recognize some areas in your life that you’d like to change. Maybe it’s a physical area, like exercising regularly or trying a yoga class. It could be a spiritual area, like trying meditation or prayer on a consistent basis. Perhaps you’re interested in improving in an intellectual area, like learning a foreign language or mastering a new computer skill. No matter who you are, I’m confident there are a few areas, in which, you’d like to improve.
Please meet your new best friend—the 30-day challenge.
I first encountered the idea of the 30-day challenge from my association with Steve Pavlina. Steve built a huge website following (at StevePavlina.com) by offering free self-development advice and documenting his own 30-day challenges. Although Steve pushes the average human limits, in regards to the challenges he attempts, he inspired me to try my own 30-day challenges. After seeing the results, I’m convinced the 30-day challenge is one of the best “breakthrough tools” available to anyone trying to transform their life. And the best part is this: It’s free.
My first challenge was to go 30 days without eating any meat. Please understand, up until this point, there were two things in the world that I knew I could never live without: women and meat. I’ve always eaten meat; I’ve always loved women.
Like most Americans, most of my meals included at least one meat product: hot dogs, hamburgers, ribs, hot wings, pork chops, etc. You name it; I ate it. I’ll talk about the details of my 30-day vegetarian challenge in an upcoming chapter.
After seeing the results—and increase in self-discipline—from that initial 30-day challenge, I decided to attempt another. The increase in personal power you feel after achieving (what seems like) an un-achievable goal, makes you to feel as though you can tackle anything.
I gave myself a three-week-break, and then started my next 30-day challenge. The increase in personal power I felt after completing the 30-day vegetarian challenge motivated me to “increase the weight.” I’m currently finishing up a 30-day challenge that consists of the elimination of the following: Internet, meat, alcohol, television, and radio.
The secret to the effectiveness of the 30-day challenge is to give yourself the freedom to return to your old lifestyle after the 30 days.
As mentioned in Chapter 10, when a person is told they can never do “such-and-such” again, they tend to resist the idea. I just can’t fathom the possibility of never having another cigarette. Never eat ribs again? I just can’t do it! Once these types of thoughts enter a person’s consciousness, they usually back away from even attempting a new lifestyle challenge.