When it comes to intentional practice, Jerry Seinfeld introduced the concept of don’t break the chain. He tells the story of his own productivity hack to write one joke each day. The objective when he wrote a joke was to X each day on a calendar. The ultimate goal was to not break the chain.
Jeff and Jami Downs have taken this concept and put their own spin on it. They call the practice “streaking.” For them, it came out of an exercise streak. They were walking or running regularly but were no longer committed to the idea of competing in organized races. Instead, they turned their objective to keep up a streak, to run 1 mile each day. They’re now the authors of the book Streaking and have the Streaking Mastery website, blog, podcast, and app to share their message.
It’s important to note that streaking is not about creating habits. Streaking is about committing to something, doing it, and repeating. By this consistent approach to something, you grow your skills incrementally. You teach yourself to trust that when you say you’re going to do something, you do it. You show yourself and others that you have integrity. You are taking time for self-care, no matter what action you’re streaking. You are in control. You are the ruler of your own kingdom. Tap into your warrior soul. You are brave and boldly declaring what you will do and doing it. You are getting things done.
So how do you streak? There are three laws to follow.
- Law #1: Make it laughably simple
- Law #2: No Record, No Streak
- Law #3: Create a Community
That’s it.
Law #1: Make it laughably simple.
The authors are not kidding when they say this. You need to ask yourself, “Can I do this on my worst day?” If the answer is no, it’s not simple enough. Your goal is to give yourself a victory every day. Answer the call. Think about these examples.
- Write one sentence in my journal daily.
- Read one paragraph a day.
- Run or walk 1 mile a day, 6 times a week.
- Meditate for 5 minutes, 5 times a week.
Law #2: No Record, No Streak.
This one is pretty obvious. You have to keep a record. If you don’t, how will you know how long your streak is. Think of Seinfeld’s calendar with the chain of X’s. You can do this analog or digital, but you have to keep a record. There is an app that accompanies their book and website. It allows you to set up the streaks, daily, weekly, or monthly. I use an app called Daylio, which doesn’t have the same features. I like it because it has an added bonus. I can track all kinds of things, weather, mood, etc., and then I can study the impact these things have on each other. That’s a story for another blog post. The important thing here is that you keep track.
Law #3: Create a Community.
By joining or creating a community, you provide yourself with external accountability. You give yourself a group of like-minded people who will support you. It lets you share with others and learn new approaches to the challenges you face. You might discover something new you’d like to try. Community magnifies what you’re doing. It takes a village. Find community so that you have that resource.
Get Started
Are you ready to get started with your own streak?
- Identify the action you’d like to take.
- Designate when you’d like this to happen, daily, weekly, or monthly.
- Set the number of times to take action.
Remember to follow the three laws as you’re planning for your streak. Can you do this action on your worst day? If not, then it’s not laughably simple. You need to break it down. How are you going to record your streak? Did you download the app? Do you have a calendar? If you do not have a record, you are not streaking. The last step is to find your community.
Next steps
I’ve been doing monthly challenges, which I record daily on Instagram. These weren’t officially using the streaking methodology because I wasn’t aware of it. As it’s time to set my next month’s worth of goals, I think I’ll be looking at this practice and will define three streaks. I’d love to have you join my community. Set your own streaks. Leave me a comment telling me where you’re posting and I’ll follow along with you.