A few years ago, I felt like I was stuck in a rut,
so I decided to follow in the footsteps
of the great American philosopher, Morgan Spurlock,
and try something new for 30 days.
The idea is actually pretty simple.
Think about something you've always wanted to add to your life
and try it for the next 30 days.
It turns out 30 days is just about the right amount of time
to add a new habit or subtract a habit --
There's a few things I learned while doing these 30-day challenges.
instead of the months flying by, forgotten,
the time was much more memorable.
This was part of a challenge I did to take a picture every day for a month.
And I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing that day.
that as I started to do more and harder 30-day challenges,
I went from desk-dwelling computer nerd
to the kind of guy who bikes to work.
(Laughter)
Even last year, I ended up hiking up Mt. Kilimanjaro,
the highest mountain in Africa.
I would never have been that adventurous before I started my 30-day challenges.
I also figured out that if you really want something badly enough,
you can do anything for 30 days.
Have you ever wanted to write a novel?
try to write their own 50,000-word novel, from scratch,
It turns out, all you have to do is write 1,667 words a day
By the way, the secret is not to go to sleep
until you've written your words for the day.
Now is my book the next great American novel?
(Laughter)
if I meet John Hodgman at a TED party,
No, no, if I want to, I can say, "I'm a novelist."
(Laughter)
So here's one last thing I'd like to mention.
I learned that when I made small, sustainable changes,
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 sugar for 30 days,
(Laughter)
I guarantee you the next 30 days
are going to pass whether you like it or not,
so why not think about something you have always wanted to try
(Applause)