30GO30 is all about 30 day challenges, and I vowed when I started the blog to practice what I preached. This is a complete history of my 30 day challenges to date.
The 4-hour Workday Challenge
October 2011 - Completed
If one block of 30 minutes/day is good, then 8 blocks must be better, right? I set out to find that out, and to see if 4 hours of uninterrupted work could equal 8 hours of multi-tasking mess. Turns out, focus counted for a lot, but flexibility matters, too. The ideal is probably somewhere in between.
The 30 Day Budget Challenge
August 2011 - Completed
I wrote an e-book called The 30 Day Budget and decided to practice what I preach and put myself through my own program. It was a good reminder of some small things I've let slip, but to be honest, most of these lessons have become habits for me over time. The actual challenge turned out to be a bit too easy.
Seth Godin's #Trust30 Challenge
June 2011 - Completed
I committed to a 30 day writing challenge based on Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self Reliance. Each day, a blogger/author posted a new challenge, sort of a writer's version of Truth or Dare. It's the first time in a while that I felt more like a writer than a blogger. Note to self: It felt good.
30 Days without Social Media
May 2011 - Completed
I kicked the Twitter and Facebook habits cold-turkey for 30 days, and threw in LiveJournal, eBay, and Angry Birds, just to make things interesting. It was tough, and I have to admit that I was a lot more productive, but I also learned where social media has real value for me, if I can keep it in balance.
The Undiet Challenge
April 2011 - Completed*
I took on an "undiet" – instead of cutting out foods, I tried to get my pathetic fruit and veggie consumption up to 5 servings per day. I'm going to (*) this "Completed", as I got up to 4/day pretty easily, but struggled with 5. I also gave up soda and devoted serious time to meal-planning.
The E-word Challenge
February 2011 - Completed
My first 30GO30 challenge was one of the biggies – getting back to the gym after the new year (and 6 months after my daughter was born). My 5-week plan ended up taking 38 days, but I made real, steady progress. I'm happy to say I've kept it going. I'm up to 200 push-ups in 11:40 as of this writing.