Why It's Important To Keep a Record Of Your Streak
One of the more mundane findings is that successful people, in any walk of life, keep records.
Not ever have you heard the words, "record keeping is fun" come out of anyone's mouth. If you have it was a fluke or it was done in a deeply sarcastic tone. However, today, I heard those exact words, "record keeping is fun!" This was said with no sarcasm, no joking, no nefarious means, simple and straight forward, "record keeping is fun."
Studying successful people has revealed all sorts of similarites that others can use to become successful themselves. One of the more mundane findings is that successful people, in any walk of life, keep records. From a full blown journal to a check mark on the page, people who have success track what they do.
The earliest form of record keeping "date[s] back a little more than 5,000 years in Egypt and ancient Sumer. The earliest Sumerian records were made using reeds cut at an angle to make wedge-shaped (cuneiform) marks on clay, which was then baked hard. Many of these clay tablets survive today, and scholars can still read them. The earliest records look like accounts: lists of property, cattle, sheep, and wheat. (Khan Academy)"
Seems to make sense that the earliest records were lists. Lists to know whose stuff belonged to whom. Today lists are still used and quite critical to keep track of any number of things from shopping to surgery. Without a list you forget the bread or a surgeon leaves a tool in your tummy.
Atul Gawande writes in his book "The Checklist Manifesto" that lists "remind us of the minimum necessary steps and make them explicit. They not only offer the possibility of verification but also instill a kind of discipline of higher performance.” There is no doubt that the list is a critical record, and for people to be successful they need a record, but how is keeping a record fun?
A record becomes fun when it is a record of how many days in a row you have done something. When you have challenged yourself to see how many days in a row you can keep that something going. When you are playing a game. There is nothing more exciting than a record of consecutive wins or a streak.
"Streaking turns a regular activity into something exciting because you know how many days in a row you have done that thing, the record is fun!" Said our streaker. And I agree, keeping the record and the record itself is fun.
It is fun because you see displayed on the page the record of your progress. You see credibility in keeping a promise to yourself. You feel confidence knowing that you have done what you said you would do for 143 days in a row. The record boosts your spirits, lightens your step, and keeps you moving forward. The record of your streaks is the record of you winning every day.
The winning feeling I get when I open the Streaking app and mark my streaks complete is awesome. There is nothing like living in the present every day. There is nothing like feeling credible, confident and successful every day. Do you want to feel this every day? Then start streaking!
