By Colby Kultgen

Everyone Should Try a 30-Day Challenge, A Word That's Changing How I See the World, and LinkedIn Speak

Read online / Read time: 4 minutes

Hello friends!

Welcome to 1% Better.

The newsletter where I share my 5 favorite ideas, lessons, and discoveries of the week—no fluff, just the good stuff.

Let's get right into it.

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Why I think everyone should try a 30-day challenge

I don't mean to alarm you, but we're almost a quarter of the way through 2026.

How are those January goals looking? 👀

I'm bringing this up because whether you want to:

• recommit to your January goals
• start something completely new

I firmly believe a 30-day challenge is the best way to do it.

My partner and I tried this out last month with 30 days of fasting, and it was so effective that we're already planning a new challenge for April.

Here are my best tips if you want to take this on:

1. Don't do it alone. Accountability is crucial for a goal like this. And you don't even have to do the exact same challenge (my partner and I had completely different fasting hours).
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2. Put the systems in place first. If you're cutting out sugar, clear it from the kitchen before you start. You don't want to be figuring out logistics after you're already neck deep in the challenge.
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3. Pick a challenge that ripples. The best challenges impact multiple areas of your life. When I started fasting at night, I cut calories, slept better, and saved money on late-night takeout.
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My challenge to you: commit to a 30-day challenge by the end of March (bonus points if you reply to this letting me know what you choose!)

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A word that's changing how I see the world

I know, this reads a bit like something you would find on Pinterest.

But I think there's real power in this.

A few ways this has been changing how I show up:

1. Being more patient with strangers. That a-hole who just cut me off in traffic might be having the worst day of his life. I'm trying to give the benefit of the doubt to people more often.
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2. Celebrating my friends' wins harder. A friend of mine had a big interview this week, and normally I wouldn't think too much of it. But when I considered this could be a huge turning point in her life, it gave it depth I wouldn't have considered before.
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3. Keeping the invite open. I used to stop reaching out to people if they didn't respond a couple times. Now I think about what might be going on in their life that I can't see.

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An AI dictation app that triples your writing speed
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I have a confession: I'm kind of a slow typer.

My brain moves way faster than my fingers, and it drives me crazy sometimes.

That's why I love Wispr Flow so much.

It's a voice-powered AI keyboard that turns whatever you say into clean, well-punctuated text. It works in Slack, Gmail, Notes, and anywhere else you write.

I've been writing 2-3x faster since I started using it.

​​​Try it out for free right now.​

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Something I wish I understood about my brain 10 years ago

The older I get, the more I realize this is true.

I can only speak for myself, but my misery has always been in direct proportion to my aimlessness.

The years I felt the worst were the years I didn't have a clear goal to work toward.

The mistake I think most people make is believing this has to be your career.

It could be a hobby, a side hustle, a fitness goal, a creative project. It just has to be something that pulls you forward.

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A chart that might explain why nothing feels fun anymore

I pulled this chart from an interesting article called The State of Culture, 2024.

The whole piece is worth reading, but this section really stuck with me:

This was written in 2024, which means this is only going to get worse.

As AI takes over, we can already see the next column forming: AI-generated videos, AI-written messages, dating AI chatbots.

A couple good questions to sit with:

1. Are my dopamine sources "slow" or "fast"? (use the chart as reference)
2. What's one "fast" source I could swap for a "slow" one this week?

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A tool that translates to "Linkedin Speak"

Yes, this is a real thing lol.

Have a great week!

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