The Power of Streaks.

One of the most essential goal-achieving strategies I have implemented in the past two years is streaking. Streaks can be referred to as tracking one’s goal and objective. There are different ways to measure a streak, such as marking it on a calendar or using an application to track your progress. By achieving a streak on a set goal, one develops self-confidence and a renewed belief in one’s capacity to achieve the set goals. As the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, “We are what we repeatedly do; excellence then is not an act but a habit.”

The past year has been a year of streaks as I consistently executed some of my goals while some were not relentlessly followed through. But the lesson learned from streaking is that: “How you do one thing is how you do everything.” The same consistency required to meditate consistently for two years non-stop is the same consistency that is necessary to create a writing streak. As my favourite nursery rhyme goes: “Good better best, never let it rest until good is better and better is best.” I am obsessed with becoming a better version of myself through self-improvement, personal growth and spiritual awakening.

Some of the ways that I have used streaking to achieve some of my goals include:

Two years of consistent daily meditation: Since December 27, 2021, I have meditated every morning non-stop for two years straight. Before I got to this level of consistency with my meditation practice, I broke the streak multiple times, like 15 different streaks, before I finally got into my present groove. It was not all rosy. I use the Calm mindfulness App to meditate daily using three guided meditations (Daily Jay – Jay Shetty, Daily Calm – Tamara Levitt, Daily Daily Trip – Jeff Warren). Meditation has been life-transformative for me, and it has also helped me understand life’s impermanence.

Physical Fitness Tracking using the Strava App: I try to exercise for an average of two hours daily and track my progress using the Strava App. Strava is an app for tracking physical exercises and includes a social network feature. I participate in various sporting activities such as running, swimming, pickleball, basketball, volleyball, badminton, lawn tennis, soccer, ping-pong, and weight lifting.

Language Learning with Busuu: I recently discovered the Busuu language learning app, which allows users to interact with native learner learners. The app is fast becoming one of my favourite apps of all time as the gamification component of the application is well-built, and I find myself going back every day. I have tried similar language-learning apps such as Duolingo, Memrise and Babel. But the Busuu app is the app where I have been able to build a streak of consistent daily practice. I am presently using it to solidify my French and learn beginner-level Spanish.

Streaks Build Confidence

In May 2023, I ran four full marathons (Toronto, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Halifax, Nova Scotia and Calgary, Alberta). A week before the four marathons, I had run a personal best for a half-marathon in the Mississauga Half Marathon. These marathon streaks gave me the renewed confidence to believe that I can do anything I want. Before I set about running four marathons in a month, I was stiff and nearly impossible in my mind, and most people I told about the goal thought I was naughts. I almost believed the naysayers, but after running and finishing the four marathons, I had the drive to complete my ultimate goal of running across all the Canadian provinces in 2023.

I eventually ran the equivalent of ten full marathons in 2023. I ran nine full marathons and two half-marathons across Canada. It was an uphill task when I set the goal earlier in the year, but I achieved it with a streak of training and deliberate practice. Ancient Roman stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca once remarked, “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” Most stretching goals, like running multiple marathons in a year and learning a foreign language or programming language, can be challenging at the beginning, but by staying consistent with a streak of deliberate practice, “Everything Is Figureoutable” as American entrepreneur Marie Forleo like to say.

With the streak of deliberate training and daily workout sessions, I could reduce my full marathon personal best by 24 minutes. My previous personal best for a marathon was 3 hours 44 minutes. I ran a personal best at the 2023 GMS Queen City Marathon in Regina, Saskatchewan. We play the way we train; one of the great lessons from running multiple marathons is that “If you can’t do it in training, it is going to be hard to execute on game day.” We get rewarded in public for what we diligently practice in private. One of the prices of greatness is sacrifice, the personal responsibility to show up daily even when it seems no one is watching you. Personal integrity is what you are doing when no one is watching, and there is pressure to perform for the audience.

Meditation

Dialy Jay with Tamara Levitt – Carpe Diem
For most of our lives, we travel unconsciously from moment to moment, day to night, week to month to year and the whole time we barely acknowledge that one day in an instant this life of ours would come to an end. Acknowledging the finality of life is a difficult thing, thinking about death brings up feelings of instability, anger, anxiety, fear, and even panic.
As uncomfortable as it might seem, being mindful of our eventual demise can wake us up and enhance our lives. There is no single part of life more certain than our impermanence. Carpe Diem – Seize the day. A gentle reminder that all we have is this moment. Death reminds us to seize the moment, life’s magic and transient nature.
Daily Jay with Jay Shetty – Your Dream is Possible
Wynton Bernard Tells Mother He’s Heading for the MLB Tears flowed down Wynton Bernard’s face on Thursday, August 11, as he revealed to his mom that he would be playing Major League Baseball after ten years of playing in the minor leagues.