Link to original video by TED-Ed
Try something new for 30 days - Matt Cutts

Summary of "Try something new for 30 days - Matt Cutts"
Short Summary:
Matt Cutts encourages viewers to adopt the "30-day challenge" concept, where they try a new habit or activity for 30 days. He shares his personal experiences with various challenges, highlighting how they improved his self-confidence, made time more memorable, and helped him achieve seemingly impossible goals like writing a novel in a month. Cutts emphasizes the importance of small, sustainable changes over big, unsustainable ones, and encourages viewers to start their own 30-day challenges.
Detailed Summary:
Section 1: Introduction & Concept
- Cutts introduces the idea of trying something new for 30 days, inspired by Morgan Spurlock's "30 Days" project.
- He explains that 30 days is an ideal timeframe to establish or break a habit.
- He suggests choosing something you've always wanted to add or remove from your life.
Section 2: Personal Experiences & Benefits
- Cutts shares his experience with a 30-day challenge to take a picture every day, which made time more memorable.
- He describes how his self-confidence grew as he took on progressively harder challenges, culminating in hiking Mount Kilimanjaro.
- He emphasizes that 30-day challenges can help you achieve seemingly impossible goals, like writing a novel in a month.
- He uses the example of "NaNoWriMo" (National Novel Writing Month) to illustrate this point.
Section 3: The Importance of Sustainability
- Cutts acknowledges the fun of big challenges but emphasizes the importance of small, sustainable changes.
- He uses the example of giving up sugar for 30 days, which proved unsustainable in the long run.
- He encourages viewers to focus on changes they can maintain long-term.
Section 4: Call to Action
- Cutts reminds viewers that the next 30 days will pass regardless, so they might as well use that time to try something new.
- He encourages viewers to choose something they've always wanted to try and give it a shot for the next 30 days.
Notable Quotes:
- "30 days is just about the right amount of time to add a new habit or subtract a habit."
- "I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing that day."
- "If you really want something badly enough, you can do anything for 30 days."
- "The secret is not to go to sleep until you've written your words for the day."
- "There's nothing wrong with big crazy challenges... but they're less likely to stick."
- "What are you waiting for?"