When 2018 began, I had no idea how challenging it would be…

And I don’t mean that in a bad way, in fact, its quite the opposite. At the beginning of March, I challenged myself to go on 30DatesIn30Days. And while I fell just shy of the 30 mark (technically), I absolutely encountered well over 30 guys that I actually could have made it to 30 with, but for varied reasons, we didn’t. And in fact, I haven’t done my official tally yet, so I may be really close to 30, in fact. And if I were just dead set on making a quota, I could still make it happen, if I wanted, but I digress. I’ve had tons of people asking via social media for updates on 30 in 30 and the truth is, between working & dating, I really haven’t had time to write. However, I’m going to try to carve out some time this weekend to get those posts uploaded, but if not, best believe that whatever’s not located here on the blog will definitely be in the book.

I was sitting here thinking with April rapidly approaching, I wanted to try another challenge. Something new. Spanish, I thought. I’ve always loved the language and actually know quite a bit. Now typically my use of the Spanish language was limited to phrases with Him like “quiero que estes dentro de mi” & what not, but what many people don’t know is that while working for the Department of Human Services for over 10 years, I actually picked up the language by coming in contact with so many people of Mexican decent. A large majority of my clients were Spanish-speakers and it was due to the language barrier that I started studying Spanish in order to better service them. Many of my clients when coming into my office were mistreated, in my opinion, because it was perceived to be more time-consuming having to call an interpreter so I just started learning & teaching myself. In fact, I did my Capstone presentation on this very topic for my undergraduate program, but that’s another blog. In any case, I’ve decided that in the month of April to learn Spanish for 30 days consistently and then make an entire YouTube video speaking Spanish at the end of the month. Yep, you heard it here first.

Normally, I find it despairing to announce my goals to the world and come up short in the end. But like with 30in30, it actually pushed me to try harder. It was like, because I had put it out to the world, the stakes were just a little bit higher and it made me want to go after it that much more. It’s almost the factor of not wanting to be embarrassed or look like a complete idiot by proclaiming something so far- fetched that you put even more effort into it to reach said goal. That’s what I want to do with my Spanish.

Becoming fluent in the language has always been a long-term goal of mine anyway and it seems like it’s kind of a recurring New Year’s “resolution” for me. Every year, I “decide” to learn Spanish. I make a couple attempts the first few days and then like most other resolutions, it goes kerplunk. But I kinda like the idea of doing it for 30 days. It gives me a time line– one that’s realistic but not too intimidating. Dr.  Maxwell Maltz is famous for being quoted as saying that it takes about 21 days to form a habit. I like this timeline. It’s not too much pressure and at the same time, it’s ample time to say that I’ve tried something new. I think I want to kinda start making these challenges for the remainder of the year. Like each month, try something new. I’m always up for a challenge so feel free to leave your ideas/ suggestions below.

-TheRealBlackCarrieBradshaw™