Thanks for all the responses so far, guys.
It's great to see some specific ideas, but what I'm really enjoying is the pattern that is emerging. It seems that what is more important then the specific method is the fact that all of these methods promote accountability and, in some way, have an in-direct motivational effect, either by completing what you set out to do each day or by marking it off or making some sort of log about it.
That said, the specific ideas help bring this abstract concept down into reality where it can be put into practice, so please, do keep the ideas coming.
Quote:
Originally Posted by greyman  What is your experience with the 30-day limit? I found out that in some cases 30 days is not enough. Sometimes, I can withdraw from some bad habit for months, and still not rid myself off of them. |
It largely took me a while to understand how to use the 30-day trial in the first place. I honestly haven't done many trials, but Steve's most recent post about it brought them back into my awareness, and somehow, over the year, all the important concepts I needed to know had just "clicked", and I knew how to use the 30-day trial more intelligently then I have before. I've seen this effect before, and it seems to be an association thing your brain does. I seem to be particularly good at it (partly because of how I see/interpret the world), since I can generalise concepts to a very abstract level and apply them to seemingly unrelated ideas very easily (so basically all of my experience is useful, regardless of what it is), but I digress.
Suffice to say my previous attempts at 30-day trials pretty much failed because I didn't go into them with the right mindset or with enough knowledge of "how" I should be going about them (in terms of what the 30-day trial sets out to accomplish) in general. I was using the trial idea as a way to change habits, and while that is a often a side effect, it's not how one should approach it (IMO).
For example, earlier in 2007 I tried to become an early riser. Not only did I try to do this in an unrealistic, unsustainable way, but I also approached the 30-day trial the wrong way, trying to form a permanent habit instead of giving myself the ability to choose whether I want to continue or not at the end of the 30 days. I also put too much effort into "process", trying to maintain a complicated rating system that I later discovered didn't even make sense in the context of the 30-day trial.
Fast forward to the present, and I'm trying that trial once again. This time, though, I'm much better equipped, with a year of decent, conscious personal development behind me instead of the 1 year of random, relatively lost seeking/wandering I had been doing the year before. I also have a much better idea of what to expect, where I can make improvements, and how I should be framing this trial.
I had initially planned to take on four 30-day trials this month, but I didn't have much time to prepare, and I'm seeing that this one trial -- changing my sleep habits/patterns -- is enough to deal with without having to deal with other things. I figure it's better to be fully prepared for this trial and make sure I reach the end with it then it is to try to juggle too many balls at once, only to end up dropping them all.
Once I get more into the swing of things, I may take on some other trials in Feb or perhaps even half way through this month, but right now I'm kind of zombie-like from sleep deprivation, and I'm also sore from training, so I'm just taking it easy.
Sorry for the rambling, but I thought it was only fair to explain my situation since so many people have contributed to this thread already.
Do note, even though I may only be taking on one 30-day trial this month, your ideas are still appreciated and I will certainly put them to use, either directly or indirectly for this current trial or trials I do in the future.