streak

Another month, another progress update (I don't really remember did I write a 3 month update, maybe it was 100 days instead or something). Anyway, the 10 streaks I have been focusing on have been unbreakable for 4 full months now.

I know I could have done more. Many days I just do the bare minimums to get that daily mark. But there has been plenty of days when I have also overdone them. Most important thing still is the consistency. Just a little is still better than nothing.

A month ago I had eight ongoing streaks with 30 days or more. Then I failed at one. I could have given up, or keep going with the remaining seven. But that's not what I did.

To begin with, I restarted the failed streak. It was just one skipped day. No reason to stop doing it. In addition to that I started another one.

A week ago I broke one of my streaks. I just somehow forgot to do that at the time. I could have felt disappointed. After all I had a whopping eight different streaks going on at once.

The fact that I managed to keep up all those streaks is in itself already an accomplishment. And I did it for one month! I definitely didn't fail at anything. I achieved something great. That was over 240 tasks done in one month. 

While the three and a half year writing streak might sound long it pales in comparison to my longest streak. For the past twenty years I have had the privilege to love my wife.

And it's not just those two decades. Of course I did love her already few years prior our wedding day, she just wasn't my wife yet back then.

Like with any long relationships there are both good and bad days. While not many, we've also had our share of those bad days. But at the end of the day, no matter how bad, I've still loved her every single day. 

I was deceived at first by the @brandonwilson 's post the other day until I realized it was a follow up post one year later. The streak matters and we who are still here one year later are a living proof of that.

It's the combination of discipline, showing up every day, and the force of habit. It's surprisingly hard to quit once you get going, like an addiction.

Every now and then I feel like I should break my writing streak. It's inevitable, I know. And I want to make it on my own terms.

But when I get to it I manage to postpone it. Every time. First, I at least need to write about it. I owe you,  readers, the explanation why there won't be a post tomorrow.

The next day, usually one of the following happens:

There is something interesting to write about that I just can't miss.

I have changed my mind, I still want to go on with the streak.

I forget I decided to quit.

There is always something special in every day. I don't have to wait three decades to have my next big achievement. I can have them as often as I want.

In a bit over three weeks I will pass a round number in base two. In three months I have been writing for three years. There is always something coming up soon enough.

This is just another regular post. Nothing special about it. Just one more in an endless streak of posts.

Almost three years ago I made a decision. A decision to start writing. I didn't set any goals for myself at that time. And I haven't changed that along the way. I didn't even promise to write daily. It was just simple thing, to write more.

And that's what I have done. I have written more. A lot more. Not just these daily posts, but other things as well. 

As of today I have been writing in an unbreakable streak of 999 days. Tomorrow would turn into a whole new level breaking the four-digit barrier.

It goes without saying that I never thought I would make this far. But now, when I'm finally here, I'm not sure I want to break that barrier.

While keeping up the streak is good incentive to keep going, some days it might also feel a liability. I just have to write even if I don't feel like it just for the sake of not breaking he streak.

After a long day, the last day I thought of relaxing first watching a movie before writing. Then realized the movie would run until after ten o'clock local time. That wouldn't be too late normally. But here, we are two hours behind my normal timezone. So it would be past midnight already. Too late to keep my streak alive.

Sure, I could have just changed the timezone to keep up with the time difference and not to worry about it. But why bother. It's better to get this done anyway now. It's the last day anyway before returning back home and to the normal time.