Suggestions for Future 30-Day Trials (Blog)

[Dive Bomb]

Originally Posted by mburu

Steve,
Your articles are great. This is my first post

How about a 30-day trial on showering with cold water every morning. I have already began it myself after I read that this is supposed to make one’s day energetic

I have noted some good changes in my skin competition, and shinny hair too!
Am continuing

Now that is extreme! If Steve does a 30 day trial of that, I would consider him to be immortal.

[Jugga J]

Originally Posted by Dive Bomb

Now that is extreme! If Steve does a 30 day trial of that, I would consider him to be immortal.

To be fair, you get used to it when your circulation improves. Not much to write about really...

[Holistic Star]

30 days of enemas!
With pictures of what comes out....




or..... 30 days of not saying the word 'I'. So that when someone tells you something, you listen and don't jump in with what you think. This is really hard by the way - I generally manage about 5 minutes! (see I already failed) oh dang - failed twice in one paragraph!

definitely helps find out how ego driven you are!

[Fullcrum]

You mean to say cold showers improve blood circulation?

[Steve Pavlina]

One idea I had was to go completely media-free for 30 days. I did the TV-free trial before, but it could be interesting to extend it to going without DVDs, movies, magazines, media sites, RSS feeds, books, newsletters, etc.

[Anme]

I've quite enjoyed reading about the past/current 30-day experiments. This is my first post as well.

I wonder if you've considered doing breath-work/breathing exercises intensively for a month? When I learned scuba-diving we were taught to breathe differently, which definitely had an impact on the group's energy levels & focus.


~anme

[Keith]

Steve,

I propose a 30-day trial of sustainable (or better!) living.

Veganism may be the single most effective change an individual can make for the environment and you've done a spectacular job in that regard, both as an individual and in sharing with others.

Now that you've done such a good job in that area, it would be great to see you explore other aspects of sustainability in detail.

To quote your Getting from a 7 to a 10 article - if you're currently at a 7 or 8, what would a 10 look like?

You wanted a topic that would be both an interesting growth experience and be of value to your readers.

Sustainability is of value to everyone - not just your readers, but through them to the rest of the world. It's a huge topic, and one which many individuals have no idea how to start tackling. Blazing a trail in this area it would open the doors for your readers to follow.

As a growth experience, it's a huge topic and I imagine there are many aspects of it that you could learn a lot more about (and share with us!).

Personally, I suspect that there are numerous opportunities and possibilities that you haven't even conceived yet.

Maybe there aren't. Maybe there really is minimal room left for improvement. But isn't exploring that exactly the sort of thing that 30 day trials are for?

[Jake Birkett]

wow some great ideas. Incidentally, is there such a thing as a left-handed piano with all the high notes on the left hand side?

How about learning to dance in 30 days, something like salsa?

[Michelle]

Originally Posted by Jake Birkett

wow some great ideas. Incidentally, is there such a thing as a left-handed piano with all the high notes on the left hand side?

How about learning to dance in 30 days, something like salsa?

I've never heard of a piano like that (doesn't mean it doesn't exist). There is, however, quite a lot of repertoire for only the left hand.

[Dan.Linehan]

Here are a few fun ones since you're getting so many requests that sound like a drag.

• 30 days of learning gymnastics / free running / parkour.
• 30 days of learning the violin (or another instrument).
• 30 days of day trading.

[PrimaryErn]

I second the sex one, but I'd prefer to see it more spiritually done. No sex, no orgasm. Spend the time learning how to rechannel sex energy and/or move it up your spine.

While you are at it, train like a warrior. The two go hand-in-hand: I don't mean the 45 minutes gym workout you are using. I mean get a teacher and spend a few hours everyday training like your life depended on it. Have them give you exercises for channeling chi and all the other fun stuff that takes time to develop. Pound mungbeans. All those things. The whole time, you are channeling sex energy. This is something I'd love to try myself (which I think a lot of people are suggesting so they can live vicariously through you).

You talk about pushing outside your comfort zone - without knowing what makes you uncomfortable, thats hard to do. So far from the stuff I've read I haven't seen a lot of your Un-comfort zones or fears. You are advanced developmentally enough that you might not *have* a lot of them. SO what could they be? Maybe if we extrapolate (these can be totally off base, but without more info its hard to make it up):

• you have no problems with speaking to groups - maybe this is due to a fear of one-on-one conversation with difficult people - so take a trial where you spend 30 days working with angry, difficult criminals in an outreach program, giving them love.
• you have no problems with being healthy and physical - maybe this is due to a fear of violating the organic body - so take a trial where you 'Borg yourself. Get those magnetic fingertip implants, the belt that lets you know where magnetic north is, get a tattoo, etc.
• You haven't mentioned pets all that much. Pick an animal you are afraid of and adopt it/work with it for 30 days. Even Steve Irwin was afraid of Parrots!
• I don't see a lot of "heavy lifting" talk - i.e. ditch digging, heavy manual labor, things people (not necessarily you) sometimes feel they are 'above' once they get rich enough to have someone do it, etc. maybe you hate it - so take a trial where you pick something you have to build/do that will take mostly all of the 30 days. Build a gazebo with power, landscaping, etc. Get dirty, sweaty, and do bone-weary labor for 30 days.

[Angela]

How about raising a certain amount of funds for a charity you hold dear --
$3,000?
$30,000?
$300,000?

[coLLege kid07]

Originally Posted by impaul99

Here's another idea:

Eat crap for 30 days.

Meaning, eat like McDonalds, fastfoods, cakes, chocolates, twinkies, pizza, pop, just junk like crazy...

Here's the twist though...

While eating it, visualize or try to believe that the food is good for you...

See what happens for 30 days.

Watch "SuperSize Me" by Morgan Spurlock, I think he gained almost 25 pounds in a month =/....not sure if anyone would want to do that

[evanlenz]

Get a job at a local vacuum distributor (like FilterQueen) and sell vacuums in people's homes for 30 days.

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

One idea I had was to go completely media-free for 30 days. I did the TV-free trial before, but it could be interesting to extend it to going without DVDs, movies, magazines, media sites, RSS feeds, books, newsletters, etc.

Not challenging enough.

Going into total seclusion for 30 days into the forest, keeping a journal and blogging it after you come back....now that would be interesting to read.

[Holistic Star]

I really like the sustainable living idea.

Especially about reviewing your carbon footprint as a family and working out how you can reduce it. (although i read this week that by being vegan the Pavlina household footprint will be smaller than meat eaters).
Do the the products that you routinely buy (e.g. household cleaning products, shampoo or clothing) have a detrimental effect on the planet as a whole (either physically or morally)?

It would take some research upfront, and I think it would be a challenge because you might have to decide between say:
organically grown but with loads of air-miles, vs non-organic and locally grown;
or fair-trade but harsh detrimental ingredients, or not fair-trade and biodegradable ingredients.

There is no easy answer so you would have to review your moral and ethical judgements on a daily basis which would make for interesting blogging.

[Keith]

I imagine you don't want to be my guinea pig, but I would be really interested to know how rapidly it's possible to build your fitness.

You can currently do 36 push-ups. Using all the physical and mental tools at your disposal could you increase that to, say, 50 in a month? And make similar improvements in other fitness benchmarks?

[pdnewbie]

Here are some suggestions:

Trip around the world in 30 days
90 different meditation exercises in 30 days
Fast for 30 days
Relax for 30 days
Make peace with 10 friends and 10 enemies in 30 days
Befriend 5-10 personalities you would normally avoid in 30 days
Do stand-up comedy for 30 days
Grow a moustache/beard for 30 days
No shower for 30 days
No brushing for 30 days
Sustainable, green living for 30 days
No power for 30 days
Only use bicycle for transportation for 30 days
No hot water for 30 days
Making love for 30 days
Abstinence for 30 days
Write a play for 30 days
Help the disadvantaged for 30 days

[fourthdan]

Hmm.... Some suggestions don't really appeal to me because its no point blogging about something you are not able to see or measure change over the period of 30 days. Either Steve makes a change in his life from day 1 and documents the changes over 30 days (how would he do this in the sex / abstinence trials? not very feasible)
Or he starts using 30 days as the timespan of a project. Instead of documenting the changes in his body, I would be more interested in a project management overview over 30 days of how he aligns himself to accomplish something - like mastering a new technology, or any other complex project.
Passing an extremely difficult exam (in a topic Steve is totally unfamiliar with) in 30 days... to winning a dance competition that occurs in 30 days {I'm drawing inspiration from MTV's "made" here }

Also, I'm not exactly aware of how much you are up for to showing yourself to blog viewers, but maybe you should also consider video-blogging? It would definitely enhance the 30 day trial in my opinion...

[stellabeam]

1. 30 days alone in the wild

2. 30 days of meditating for 5 hours

3. 30 days of homelessness

4. 30 days of vision improvement

5. 30 days focused on getting $50,000

6. 30 days devoted to the care of someone dying

7. 30 days of Laughing
(Choose activities that stimulate laughter eg movies, stupid games, be silly, live entertainment etc
You could pre plan the whole 30 days (that would be fun) 2 hours a day or more, devoted to laughter)

[Andrew Brunelle]

I remembe reading that when you are in a state of joy, even being homeless would not matter. You should go slumming for a month out on the Vegas strip. It would show you how humans were made to live, out in the wilderness. If the "wilderness" has to be the Vegas strip, I would say it is certainly diverse enough.

[Andreas]

Wow, a lot of ideas floating around here. Steve, I can see why you may have been scared.

When suggesting ideas, it's important to remember that Steve is probably "the most growth-oriented person you will ever meet", and will decide on a trail that best challenges him and provides him with something to write about so he can further the growth of the community. While I like the idea of Steve writing a play, as it would intrinsically awesome, it seems that Steve prefers to explore more transformational trials, such as Media fasting or sleep experimentation.

Doing "the Opposite", while hilarious in a way, would result in the degradation of Steve's health, and I don't want to think of him as being like that.

Steve, what if your next trial was as gutsy as the current one. What about... "30 Days of How StevePavlina.com is Really Run"? It could function as a daily business log and provide very intimate details of how you run your business. From the daily responsibilities of responding to feedback and managing the forum through moderators to how you negotiate with affiliates (changing the names of course) and dealing with Google's adsense program. If done correctly, it could be a valuable tool for people who wish to create successful blogs. Think of it as "How to Make Money from your Blog" extreme version.

Or, you could do something really crazy do 1 video blog every day for 30 days. I realize this would require a bit of a change in your setup, but it wouldn't have to be much. Surely you already have a video camera or web cam that can connect to your computer. Getting experienced with expression with video would be a great growth experience! Now, I know what you're thinking, a 30 day video log would not be indexable by google. Well, you can write a concise keyword-smart description of each video, and if you added it to a video sharing site like YouTube, a completely new audience would have the opportunity to be exposed to your site. (Look, you're already up there.) Even though video as some disadvantages, you can express things via video that are ineffable to text. Think of how video could allow you to express your joy for life in a way that you haven't been able to before!

Food for thought.

[coLLege kid07]

hmm I've been trying to think of some...but what are some good ideas for increasing your happiness for 30 days. It seems my happiness hasn't been where I've wanted it to be lately.

Any ideas?

[Neutral]

We could do collective 30-Day trial, like the MD experiment!

[Mr.Mustache]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

One idea I had was to go completely media-free for 30 days. I did the TV-free trial before, but it could be interesting to extend it to going without DVDs, movies, magazines, media sites, RSS feeds, books, newsletters, etc.

I would definitely like to read about what that is like, a lot of my time each day is wasted by these sort of distraction. It is more doable than some of the other suggestions and I'm guessing it would be a very interesting growth experience.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Neutral

We could do collective 30-Day trial, like the MD experiment!

That's an interesting idea! Going for a specific, measurable goal as a team. Something that would make a difference in the world, not necessarily material gain, but maybe. Hmmmm...... that could be really big.

(That might make us seem kind of cult-esque, though, wouldn't it. I imagine there are folks out there who already think of me, aspiring, lola, notesmaeve, rose, etc. like the Manson Girls! )

[Dbarker]

Originally Posted by Angela

That's an interesting idea! Going for a specific, measurable goal as a team. Something that would make a difference in the world, not necessarily material gain, but maybe. Hmmmm...... that could be really big.

I've been thinking along those lines as well. With the reach of this forum and Steve's blog, I would think that could be quite monumental.

[Neutral]

Originally Posted by Angela

That's an interesting idea! Going for a specific, measurable goal as a team. Something that would make a difference in the world, not necessarily material gain, but maybe. Hmmmm...... that could be really big.

(That might make us seem kind of cult-esque, though, wouldn't it...

Some simple action that promotes PD....Wow, that sounds so simple but isn't this the reason we're all here?

I have to admit, I felt awkward and a bit cultish at the NY Meetup. I think I was framing it in my mind negatively though.

Humans seem to have a tendency towards tribalism. That mentality has achieved some of the best and worst things in our history.

[Trezker]

Joining any underground gathering always feels a bit weird.
But when it becomes mainstream you can wear that t-shirt to show you were there before everyone else.

[Keith]

Another 30-day trial idea that I'm considering for myself, but that Steve is certainly more capable of than I am:

No judging for 30 days. Accept people and things for what they are (that's accept not "tolerate"). Appreciate that what is, is, regardless of what labels or categories you may want to put on it.