What I Learned from my 30-Day Challenge
After watching Matt Cutts’ TED Talk, in which he urges us to try something new for 30 days, I decided to try something he mentioned, taking a picture every day for 30 days.
Using an iPhone and a few simple photo editing apps, I took a picture every day in December, and posted each day’s photo to Facebook. The experience itself was interesting, and I learned a few things that I think are worth sharing.
First, I noticed that I was seeing a lot of the same opportunities for photos every day, indicating that my life didn’t have a lot of variety – or at least, not this December. It confirmed a little nagging feeling that I had been having, namely that I felt myself getting a little comfortable in a routine (aka “rut”). As I tried to find new places to take pictures, I found myself taking walks, or even taking little deviations from the normal routine just for the sake of finding the next good picture. When I thought about it a little more abstractly, I realized that I should probably change a few other things up too, for example my exercise routine.
The Insight: Life is meant to evolve and change. Sometimes creating some change can be a great way to re-energize and develop a fresh perspective. It can also be a great way to build new knowledge and skills. And when combined with a keen observation of trends, proactive change can be a great way to remain relevant when we might otherwise become obsolete.
As I continued taking pictures, I found that some everyday things had the potential to make amazing pictures when I looked at them through a new mental lens of what they could be, instead of using the bored mental lens that passively observes most things as simple, everyday objects. A simple candle became a psychedelic visual, a holiday ornament became something more, and a crosswalk became a meeting of Chicago’s past and present.
The Lesson: Trying to see things in a different way provides new opportunities. I found it to be eye-opening to force myself to look at things and think, “How could this be interesting? What else could this be?” This attitude can be fruitful at work too: viewing things through a new lens provides opportunities for innovation and creativity. It’s a way to identify new solutions to persistent problems, or to exploit new opportunities that others haven’t seen yet.
Perhaps the most exciting thing about the past 30 days was trying to capture an interesting picture before the moment had passed. Knowing I had to take a picture each day, I found myself becoming more aware of interesting photo opportunities, some which were available only for a few seconds. Some of the best photos of the entire experience were the ones that weren’t planned. I saw something, and tried to grab the picture before the moment passed. I was able to capture some of these photos; others I was not.
My Take-Away: There are opportunities in our professional lives too, and it helps to be able to spot them quickly, and to take advantage. Maybe it’s just a conversation in the elevator, a question in the lunch line, or a quick favor for a colleague…but sometimes that makes all the difference.
I don’t know if I’ll keep taking a picture every day, but the lessons will be valuable long after this project. Consider new ways to see things and think about ideas. Try to see and take advantage of opportunities. Keep life evolving on your terms. And consider trying your own 30-day challenge, to see what lessons you discover for yourself!
Like this:
One blogger likes this post.
After watching Matt Cutts’ TED Talk, in which he urges us to try something new for 30 days, I decided to try something he mentioned, taking a picture every day for 30 days. 
Nice essay and good process.