Those early days in Indiana were some of the most confusing times of my life.
I had just come back from a 6-month stint abroad that mostly involved begging from door to door (to help orphans). I wasn’t in school anymore, so I didn’t have the instant camaraderie of fake friends. I also wasn’t employed, so I didn’t have the daily amusement of office politics.
It was a time that I often found myself wishing for a friend. Not just any friend, mind you. I wanted a legit “shut up and get it together” kind of friend. Someone that was authentic and capable of discussing issues beyond what the weather was doing.
I actually already knew several people that were like that but none of them were in Indiana. They were in Lagos, Chicago, New York, London, North Bay, Cleveland–everywhere BUT Indiana. It made me feel all sorts of ways.
I went through the lonely phase. Then the sad phase. Then the “okay i survived the first week. now let’s do something about this” phase.
I did all sorts of crazy things to meet people (nope, I’m not telling). And guess what? I made a lot of new friends in the process. Most of them aren’t people I would call at 1am to complain about the state of education in Maiduguri. But they’re friends nonetheless and I value that.
The Challenge
I’m telling you all of this because I recently made yet another friend.
One that seems to fit into the “shut up and get it together” category. Last week, he told me several things that really challenged my thinking.
One of them is that he sometimes picks an activity and commits to doing that activity everyday for 30 days. I’m convinced that he got the idea from Tim Ferris or someone similar but I really like it.
I like the challenge inherent in the idea. I like the discipline that it will take to get it done. I like the idea of feeling like awesome sauce for accomplishing a goal (no matter how small).
So I decided to jump in and do the challenge. My plan is simple. I’ll write 1,000 words and run 1 mile everyday for 30 days. Sorry, I couldn’t pick just one activity so I’m doing two. Even if nothing else on my to-do list gets done, I fully intend to achieve my 1,000 words and 1 mile everyday.
How serious am I?
Serious enough to drag myself through ice and snow to get to the gym at 10:38PM last night.
Your Turn
Has anyone recently made a comment that really transformed your thinking?
Are you interested in taking the challenge?, simply tweet this sentence:
“I will ______________ everyday for 30 days”.
