You are probably all very familiar with free trial offers that companies come up with. One example would be the virus software that comes on your computer when you buy it. Usually they let you try it out for two weeks or a month, and if you like it you keep it. Of course, you have to buy it at the point. If you don’t like it, it’s no big deal. You’ll uninstall it, or if you’re like me you’ll just let the trial version sit on your computer for a year or two! Be honest, how many times have you seen that little pop up that says your trial has expired?

You have to ask yourself the question, “Why do they do it?” Why would they let us use their product for free? Because they know that many us will like it. They know that we will be willing to give them more committment after we’ve tried it; we already like it. We’re comfortable with it. It works and we know it. Making a major change in your life is hard. There are some habits that are to break. Here are some that come to mind:

• Stopping Smoking, Drinking, or Using Drugs (or any other addiction for that matter)
• Starting a Business
• Getting up Early (this is the hardest one for me)
• Losing Weight or Exercising Daily
• Controlling A Bad Temper

Making these types of change isn’t easy folks! That’s why we don’t make them. We put them off. We are too intimidated to make the commitment. Get up early for life? Stop smoking for life? We are so afraid of failing next year, we can’t get started right now. When changes seem permanent, we dig in our heels and procrastinate making the change.

What if you could make a change without making it permanent? What if you could just try it out for a while to see if you like it? Think this over for a minute. What if you only had to do it for 14 days? It feels quite a bit different doesn’t it? That’s why you should try a 14 day trial. It’s only two weeks. Maybe you can’t do it for life (at least in your mind you don’t believe you can), but you can do it for 14 days.

It still won’t be easy, but it will be easier. If you don’t like it after 14 days, or if you can’t handle it, go back to how you were before. It’s possible that you’ll figure out that you don’t really care that much about making the change. On the other hand, you might love how you feel.

What happens when you get to the end of your 14 day trial? You will make a choice. You will decide whether you want to continue with the change or drop it. Either way, you will find the following fact to be true 100% of the time. After your trial it’s much easier to commit to a lifelong change. You have already done it for 14 days.

You may have overcome some of your cravings. You may find it easier for you to get up early because your body is used to it. No matter what your major change is, after 14 days you have grown in discipline. Your power to make the change has grown.

One Way I Used The 14 Day Trial To Change

I really needed to lose some weight. Last year I gained a ton, in fact from 11/05 to 9/06 I gained over 30 pounds. I went from about 205 lbs. to 237 lbs. I’m a pretty stocky guy and I was pretty solid at 200 but at 237 I was all kinds of out of shape! I think I actually lost muscle weight, so I probably gained about 40 pounds of fat.

For those of you that have started an exercise program before, you know how hard it is. You feel like you can’t even work out; you get so freaking tired! I had gone through that before, and for a while I just couldn’t commit to getting started again. I tried to convince myself to start a hundred time. I even went to the gym once or twice. I was so tired after those workouts I didn’t want to go anymore. I continued to put it off.

Finally after about a month of putting it off, I got fed up with being what to me was pretty heavy. I realized in my mind that I had to work out for a few weeks before I would feel capable of working out! I decided that I had to commit to two weeks of working out every day, well almost every day. I don’t work out on Sunday, so the goal was to do a 30 minute workout six days a week, for 14 days. I had 12 workouts ahead of me, I figured that I could do that.

The 12 workouts were pretty hard, I’m not going to lie. I knew that I only had to make it for two weeks though, and I did every single workout. For a few of the workouts I was so tired I just went to the gym and walked for 30 minutes. Most of the workouts were more productive.

I think you can guess what happened after the 14 day period. It ended on a Saturday and it felt great. I had made it! What did I do the next Monday? I went to the gym. I felt dang good, too. Tuesday? I went to the gym. Wednesday? Gym.

I’ve been working out 5 or 6 times a week ever since my 14 day trial. It’s been almost four months. After the trial it was easier to make the commitment, and the good habit was already established. I’ve lost 20 pounds since then, and feel that it will be easier to lose the next 20. (which would put me exactly where I want to be)

The trial can work for anyone. It can get you going. I encourage all me readers to take the step now. Give that change a shot with a 14 day trial.

Things I Want To Change (And Some Things I Want To Try) With The 14 Day Trial

• I want to become an early riser. (I want to get up at 6:30 every morning)
• I want to get off of caffeine. (I am actually doing this one right now)
• I want to try being a vegetarian. (I have no interest whatsoever in being a life-long vegetarian, but am very much interested in seeing how I would feel physically after trying it out)
• I want to try polyphasic sleeping. (This is a super weird way of modifying your sleeping patterns so you can sleep less and feel more rested. I’m not interested in becoming a life-long polyphasic sleeper for life either.)
• I want to start putting in an extra two hours into my business every day.