Dig in, plant the seed,
fertilize it.
See it break through the surface,
then see it grow.
Protect it,
and provide space to develop.
Let the light come down,
harvest.
Then recycle.

Cultivation

There you are. Cultivation. A whole life cycle. What does it have to do with the 30 Day Challenge? Is it about digging a whole in the soil and planting seeds? Actually, it is. If we internalize the metaphor: emptying our brain and planting a seed (in form of a question or intention) and then let the whole manifestation process come to fruition is just one beneficial aspect of committing to a 30 Day Challenge.

Action

Since we need to take some action every day we can find something out about the subject we chose and the process we use. Anything becomes much more interesting if we see it as an investigation. We can dig deep into our subject and discover all kinds of novelties. We also can observe the way we approach our practice each day: are we looking forward to it? Does our curiosity increase?  Is our ambition blocking us? How do we approach the practice if its a gray day?

New Ways

One of the most exciting aspects of any practice may be to become aware of it as a means to create new neural pathways. This involves some new endeavuor, something off the usual path since our brains need a stimulus to become alert. Let's say we want to learn a new language: the new words are not in the current memory of your mother tongue. So any time we 'walk the new language path', new information is memorized, correlated and becomes denser the more we use the new path.

Are we judging ourselves into a bad mood? Or can we just let go of negative concepts and get on with it?

This process may go as deep as to re-structure one's brain, a process that is called 'brain plasticity'.

Emotions

Another beneficial aspect of intentional practice deals with our emotions. Sometimes we are frustrated or in a negative mood. How does that affect our commitment to the challenge? Do we give in to escape the practice and just skip it? What does that tell us about ourselves? Are we judging ourselves into a bad mood? Or can we just let go of negative concepts controlling us and get on with it?

Responsibility

Any commitment is an appointment with ourselves. We can keep it or talk our way out of it or pretend it wasn't that serious. We can also see it as a wonderful chance to positively influence an area of our life. We may experience a greater sense of self-responsibility, even a greater sense of freedom.

Satisfaction

Keeping up a cultivation practice for 30 days may also increase a feeling of satisfaction, especially when the 30 Day period is over. Its an achievement. Whatever it was we were pursuing, we have gotten deeper into it and  probably finished something. We may have come to new insights and questions which motivate us into finding a new challenge. Maybe we have come up with totally new inspiring ideas.

Wouldn't that be cool?