Over the past 30 days, I have been taking part in Eddie Lam’s 30 Days to 10K Challenge. We have now reached the final day, and Eddie asked everyone taking part to share something they had learned from the experience. I decided to go a little further and make a video about some of the lessons I have learned and, more importantly, how the challenge has encouraged me to take more consistent action.
I have always believed that knowledge on its own isn’t enough when you are trying to build an online business. You can watch training videos, attend webinars, read blog posts and buy all sorts of useful tools, but none of those things will build a business unless you actually use what you learn. That is one of the reasons I have found this 30-day challenge so useful. It hasn’t just been about learning something new every day. It has encouraged me to put things into practice and keep moving forward.
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Accountability Makes a Huge Difference
One of the biggest benefits of the challenge has been accountability. When you are building an online business on your own, it is very easy to become sidetracked. You can start the day with good intentions, check a few emails, look at Facebook, watch a video and suddenly realise that a considerable amount of time has disappeared without achieving very much.
The daily tasks in Eddie’s challenge were manageable, which I appreciated because I have other things to do as well. However, knowing that there was something specific to complete each day gave me an extra push. It provided enough structure to keep me moving without creating an unrealistic workload that would have been difficult to maintain for 30 days.
This ties in with something I have written about before when discussing whether you can build an online business in five weeks. Progress doesn’t normally come from sitting back and waiting for something to happen. You have to take action, make mistakes, learn from them and keep going.
A Simple Way I Keep Myself Accountable
One simple method I have used for several years is the clock and timer on my PC. I normally set the timer for 25 minutes. Some productivity methods suggest working for 25 minutes and then taking a five-minute break, although I don’t normally follow that part of the system. I prefer to take a break when I feel that I need one.
What I find useful is the reminder that another 25 minutes has passed. When the timer goes off, I can ask myself what I have actually achieved during that period. Have I completed something useful, or have I been distracted by emails, social media or something else that didn’t really need my attention?
Twenty-five minutes can disappear remarkably quickly when you are working online. Having that simple reminder helps me recognise when I am being productive and when I need to get myself back on track.
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Building Momentum Through Consistent Action
Another major benefit of a 30-day challenge is momentum. Once you start doing something consistently, it becomes much easier to keep going. You also have other people around you who are working towards similar goals, which can make the whole process considerably more enjoyable.
There were 38 members in Eddie’s challenge, although I don’t know exactly how many were active throughout the entire 30 days. I certainly communicated with quite a few of them, and it has been good to get to know people, exchange comments and have some friendly banter along the way.
Part of the challenge involved commenting on 20 Facebook posts each day. Twenty comments may sound like a lot initially, but it really isn’t when you focus on the task. You can complete them in one session or divide them into two or three shorter sessions during the day. The important thing is to get on with it rather than allowing yourself to become distracted.
The Challenge Pushed Me Towards Live Video
One area where the challenge has particularly helped me is live video. I have talked about doing Facebook Lives and YouTube Lives for several years, but talking about something and actually doing it are two completely different things. During this challenge, I have finally started doing more live broadcasts, and I intend to continue.
One of the things I like about live video is its simplicity. With a normal YouTube video, I record the content and then spend time editing it before uploading and publishing it. With a live video, once the broadcast is finished, most of the work is already done. There may still be a few details to tidy up afterwards, but there isn’t the same editing workload.
I recently talked about this when I shared some of the benefits of taking part in a 30-day challenge. Sometimes we need something that pushes us to stop thinking about doing something and actually start doing it.
Connecting And Collaborating With Other People
Another lesson from the past month has been the importance of connecting with other people. Working online can sometimes become quite isolated, especially if most of your working day is spent sitting in front of a computer. Being part of a group where other people are also taking action gives you opportunities to communicate, encourage each other and exchange ideas.
The challenge has also encouraged me to collaborate more. I have made some new connections and communicated with people who are involved in similar areas of online business. Collaboration can introduce you to different ideas and audiences, but it can also make building a business more enjoyable because you are not trying to do everything completely on your own.
This is something I have been putting into practice recently with interviews and conversations on my YouTube channel. For example, I recently spoke with Nicholas Wood about the reality of building an internet marketing business. Conversations like these can often teach us far more than simply staying within our own little bubble.
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A 30-Day Challenge Still Requires You To Do The Work
There is an important point that I don’t want to overlook. Joining a 30-day challenge doesn’t automatically produce results. You still have to turn up and do the work. A challenge can give you structure, accountability, encouragement and a list of things to do, but nobody else can take the action for you.
If you join a challenge and then ignore the daily tasks, there isn’t much point in being there. However, if you genuinely commit yourself to the process, 30 days is long enough to start developing useful habits. You may also discover that you are capable of getting considerably more done than you previously thought.
I think this is particularly important in the online business world, where it is very easy to become distracted by the latest piece of software, another training course or the next exciting opportunity. There will always be something new appearing, but sometimes the best thing we can do is use what we already have and concentrate on taking consistent action.
Why I’m Going Straight Into Another 30-Day Challenge
You might think that after completing a 30-day challenge, I would want to take a break. However, I am actually going straight into another one. Before starting Eddie Lam’s challenge, I had already begun the 30-day challenge inside OLSP Academy and had worked through the first seven training sessions.
When Eddie’s challenge appeared, I initially thought I might be able to complete both at the same time. I quickly realised that would be too much, so I concentrated on Eddie’s challenge and temporarily put the OLSP Academy training to one side. Now that these 30 days are complete, I am going back to the OLSP challenge and continuing where I left off.
In fact, I intend to go back over those first seven training sessions again before moving forward. Some of the videos are around 50 minutes to an hour long, so it won’t necessarily be a quick process. However, approximately a month has passed since I watched them, and I think refreshing what I learned will be worthwhile.
Going over training for a second time can be surprisingly useful. Even when you think you already know the subject, you often pick up something that you missed the first time. More importantly, you may now be in a position to apply something that didn’t seem particularly relevant when you originally heard it.
Thirty Days Won’t Magically Build A Business
I don’t believe in pretending that completing a 30-day challenge will suddenly transform somebody’s business overnight. Building a genuine online business takes time, work and consistency. There will be things that work, things that don’t work and plenty of adjustments along the way.
However, I do believe there is a huge difference between spending 30 days thinking about what you are going to do and spending 30 days actually doing something. Consistent action creates momentum, and momentum makes it easier to continue taking action.
That is probably my biggest takeaway from this experience. Knowledge is valuable, but applied knowledge is what moves us forward. We don’t necessarily need to know everything before we begin. Sometimes we simply need a structure that encourages us to use what we already know.
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Could A 30-Day Challenge Help You?
If you have been struggling with consistency, procrastination or simply knowing what to work on next, I would recommend considering a 30-day challenge. It doesn’t necessarily have to be connected with internet marketing. The principle can be applied to almost anything you want to improve, provided you have a clear goal and are prepared to take action consistently.
Choose something achievable, give yourself a daily task and commit to doing it for the full 30 days. If possible, find other like-minded people who are doing something similar because the accountability and encouragement can make a considerable difference.
I’m now going to carry the momentum from Eddie Lam’s challenge straight into my next 30 days with OLSP Academy. I’m looking forward to seeing what I can learn, what I can put into practice and, most importantly, what action I can take as a result.
Have you ever completed a 30-day challenge? Did it help you become more focused or productive? Feel free to leave a comment below and let me know about your experience. If you’re currently thinking about starting one, perhaps today is a good day to stop thinking about it and begin.