100 Days
Yesterday I posted a daily blog post for the hundredth day in a row.
I’m not sure if when you reach a milestone like doing something for 100 days straight means that it’s just something that you will automatically do from now on. I can say that when I hit that milestone with quitting soda pop on multiple occasions before my final quitting exercise that I didn’t automatically stop drinking it. But I can say that once I did break that streak I felt pretty bad about it.
I do believe it’s easier to keep something going once you have a streak that has reached 100 days. It feels like it’s just the way that you operate now.
I think the streak changes you and become something more once you make it your identity. Once you go from saying “I haven’t had a soda pop in 100 days” or “I’ve written daily blog post for 100 days” to “I don’t drink soda pop” or “I’m a writer” that’s when things really go to the next level for you. Nir Eyal writes about this in his book Indistractable. It’s known as an “identity pact” that you make with yourself.
The bottom line: Don’t focus on keeping the streak alive for the streak’s sake. Focus on the streak to build the identity instead because it’s the identity that has staying power.
