At some point, there comes a time in your life when you realize you need to make a change. Now, this change can be for a variety of reasons, but most of the time, it’s something that you want to change for the better – something that will boost your quality of life, or perhaps even let you live a longer one.

A common change most people try to make is usually a health-related one. Exercise more. Eat cleaner. Drop a bad habit. And most people attempt to make these changes at the same time, you know, the best time of year to be in the exercise equipment business – the start of a new year.

It’s time to shift your thinking. Stop with the New Year’s resolutions already. No one sticks to them. How about thinking outside of what everyone else does and trying something different?

Let me tell you from personal experience. I wrote about this earlier in the year, but here’s a recap. Last summer, what seemed like out of nowhere, I decided I was going to make radical changes to my health. Why? I was tired of how I felt, my blood sugar was climbing by the day, I wasn’t sleeping well, and my overall outlook on life, for lack of better words, sucked.

That wasn’t me. I had morphed into someone I really didn’t care for. My eating habits were terrible, I had a diet soda addiction that would blow the medical community’s mind, I smoked, and wasn’t getting any exercise because I worked on the computer all day. I was out of control.

And it hit me – I’m going to be one of those people who dies young due to something I could have prevented. So, I changed. I didn’t have a choice.

I told myself that I can do anything for 30 days. So, my first 30-day challenge was food. I knew I had to get my eating under control, as that is the absolute core of your health and well-being. I started researching and talking to people I know who ate well and looked great, and quickly devised a plan to eat clean for 30 days and at the end of that time frame, if I wanted to go back, I could.

Obviously, that didn’t happen. I felt so good after only 30 days of eating healthy that I was disgusted at the thought of going back to old habits. So, this 30-day thing had potential. And I ended up using it again and again, until I literally erased all the bad habits on my list.

I feel like it has to do with the commitment level – once you commit to an action for 30 days, you start to take ownership, and tend to feel guilty at the thought of breaking your stride. Not to mention, folks, it really doesn’t take long to start feeling amazing again after getting rid of all the terrible, processed, sugary foods we tend to overeat. The rewards from doing the right thing are typically enough motivation to keep it going full speed.

So, why not give it a try? If you need to change something in your life – whatever it may be — make a plan and stick to it for 30 days. You’ll quickly find out that you have more control than you ever imagined. Once you get to 30 days, I promise you that you’ll probably feel so good that you will hesitate at the thought of turning back.

Don’t put it off… start today!