Are You Up For a 30 Day Challenge?

I like TED Talks. I mean, I really like TED Talks. I “like” them on Facebook so I can locate them later to watch or listen to when I have the time. Knowing this about me, you can imagine my excitement that I am attending a TEDx event at the end of August!

I discovered a TED Talk that really resonates with me by Matt Cutts: Try Something New for 30 Days. I have listened to this Talk several times and talked about it in a class I teach. I love the idea of giving myself a time period to do something specific. You can watch the video here. 

As a caregiver it is so easy to lose yourself in the needs of someone else. It is easy to forget there are things you once liked to do. It is so easy to get involved in the demands of caregiving that some people forget to take care of themselves. The Alzheimer’s Association 2015 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report states that nearly 60 percent of Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers rate the emotional stress of caregiving as high or very high, and 40 percent have been diagnosed with depression.

Why not shake things up a bit and figure out something you want to do for 30 days, and do it. You might choose something related to self-care such as using the Water Pic that is so easy to ignore on the bathroom counter, drinking water, eating fruits or vegetables, or going for a walk. You might want to do something creative like take a picture each day and post it on Facebook or Instagram or practice an instrument for a certain amount of time daily. Or you might choose something really hard like giving up caffeine or sugar. I don’t think I could do either of those!

Watch the Ted Talk video and come up with what you’re going to do for 30 days. You never know, at the end of a month, you too might say, “I’m a novelist”, which will make complete sense once you watch the video or read the transcript.

So, what are you going to do for 30 days?