30 Day Challenge

One of my friends here is a very very smart individual. Rich is almost too smart for his own good. Three weeks ago, I was having a drink at the pub with Rich and our friend The Gov when Rich decided we should all take a 30 day challenge as per the TED Talk ideal.  Our challenge: take the stairs at work for 30 days. There are only 8 floors at work that most people work on, so it seemed like a good idea at the time.  I work a lot on our basement floors and there are 4 of those, so about two days into the challenge, we realized the rules needed to be ammended...slightly. The new rules: first time you walk into the building - ALWAYS take the stairs.  If you're wearing pants, after the first climb you may take the elevator up. Down is not an option - Stairs.

The week we start tomorrow will be our last week of the challenge and my has it been eye-opening.

I plan my day much better and more efficiently now. If I am in need of a trip to B1, I think about all the things I might be capable of taking care of whilst I am down there. I do not spend half of my day waiting on an elevator that inevitably seconds before I pressed the button was on my floor, but has managed to slip away by the time I need it. It's much faster to just automatically take the stairs.

That being said, I will OF COURSE be more than pleased when I no longer am forced to take the stairs from B3 to L8. That is one long stair climb, ya'll.

The 30 Day Challenge, though, is a great practice in itself.  You take something you've been meaning to do or wanting to do and for 30 days, you do it. Pretty simple. Straightforward. No tricks, no hidden meanings.

Rich and I went to the movies with his lovely wife last night and afterwards, Rich and I discussed our next 30 Day Challenge. The next one is going to be tough for me, but that is the point of a "challenge". It'll probably make me feel uncomfortable sometimes and force me to think about a lot of things I may or may not (read: may) have been avoiding. But I am pretty excited about it and since I do not want to spoil the surprise ending, I will let you know when the next challenge begins.

Let me warn you, it's pretty good. Maybe you should get on board.