Filmed mar 2011 • posted jul 2011 • ted2011

 

http://www.ted.com/talks/matt_cutts_try_something_new_for_30_days.html

TRY SOMETHING NEW FOR 30 DAYS

A few years ago, I felt like I was ________ in a rut, so I decided to follow in the footsteps of the great American __________, Morgan Spurlock, and try something new for 30 days. The idea is actually ______ simple. Think about something you've always wanted to add to your ______ and try it for the next 30 days. It turns out, 30 days is just about the right _______ of time to add a new habit or subtract a habit -- like watching ______ -- from your life.

There's a few things I learned while doing these 30-day __________. The first was, instead of the months _______ by, forgotten, the time was much more memorable. This was part of a challenge I did to take a _______ every day for a month. And I remember _______ where I was and what I was doing that day. I also noticed that as I started to do more and _______ 30-day challenges, my self-confidence grew. I went from desk-dwelling computer nerd to the kind of guy who bikes to work -- for fun. Even last year, I ended up _________ Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. I would never have been that __________ before I started my 30-day challenges.

I also figured out that if you really want something badly _________, you can do anything for 30 days. Have you ever wanted to write a _______? Every ________ tens of thousands of people try to write their own 50,000-word novel from _______ in 30 days. It turns out, all you have to do is write 1,667 ______ a day for a month. So I did. By the way, the _______ is not to go to sleep until you've written your words for the day. You might be sleep-deprived, but you'll finish your novel. Now is my book the next great _______ novel? No. I wrote it in a month. It's ______. But for the rest of my life, if I meet John Hodgman at a TED party, I don't have to say, "I'm a computer scientist." No, no, if I want to, I can say, "I'm a _________."

(Laughter)

So here's one last thing I'd like to _______. I learned that when I made small, ____________ changes, things I could keep doing, they were more likely to stick. There's nothing wrong with big, crazy challenges. In fact, they're a ton of fun. But they're less likely to stick. When I gave up ______ for 30 days, day 31 looked like this.

(Laughter)

So here's my _______ to you: What are you waiting for? I guarantee you the next 30 days are going to _______ whether you like it or not, so why not think about something you have always wanted to______ and give it a shot for the next 30 days.

Thanks.

(Applause)