Thank you for choosing to take Earl Nightingale’s 30-day challenge with me.
He said “the secret” is that we become what we think about. So let’s get thinking!
It may take more than 30 days to really create this habit. We may have to start over a time or two. And we have the play between now and then which could get really busy.
Let’s give ourselves to the end of February to work hard at this and create this new habit.
Here’s a recap of the challenge he gives in his speech, The Strangest Secret:
- Choose One Clear Goal
- Decide on the one thing you want most in your life right now — it could be a financial target, an education milestone, a new skill, etc.
- Write that goal down clearly and specifically on a small card.
- Carry and Review Your Goal Daily
- Keep the card with you and look at it several times each day — first thing in the morning, during the day when you can, and right before bed.
- Think about this goal in a cheerful, relaxed, positive way each time. Imagine living the results of the achievement
- Control Your Thoughts
- Stop dwelling on fear or negative thoughts.
- Every time a fearful or unhelpful thought comes up, replace it with a mental picture of your positive goal — how it feels to achieve it, why it matters to you, etc.
- Do More Than You Have To
- Nightingale emphasizes giving more value, effort, and service than you ever have before.
- How can you put more good and positivity out into the world?
- Persist — Don’t Quit
- If you find yourself slipping into negative thinking, overwhelmed, or discouraged before the 30 days are up, start over from wherever you are and continue for a full 30 days of renewed focus.
- Form a New Habit
- The goal isn’t just 30 days of effort — it’s that 30 days of focused action begins to create a new habit of purposeful, positive thought and behavior.
At the end, there WILL be a reward of some sort. Something for giving it your all and something even better if you actually get 30 days in a row. (I just don’t know what it is right now – stay tuned.)
Here are a few pro tips to keep you going:
- You could make more than 1 card with your goal on it and place them around your house to help you remember to think about your goal. (Across from the toilet is always a good place to put something you want to look at. I mean, we’re in there just sitting several times a day…)
- If you want to take your goal paper one step further, include pictures or visuals along with the words. This engages both sides of your brain and helps you visualize it more clearly.
- Instead of an index card in your pocket (which is totally fine) you could also put your goal on your phone to look at throughout the day.
- Include the “why” of the goal. Yes, my goal may be money, but what am I going to do with it? This makes the goal realistic and more concrete and helps you feel more emotion about it. I’m not going to get the same level of emotion out of a pile of cash as I would about the trip (or car, or clothes, etc.) I’ll buy with the cash.
- Don’t get too caught up in what you want your goal to be. This isn’t the last goal you will ever set or last thing you will ever want. SO, JUST CHOOSE SOMETHING. Don’t stress, just put the process to work on ANYTHING. This is really about changing our mindset and habits, not getting…something. The something is great, but the habits and mindset are lifechanging.
