180 Daily Blog Post in a Row Helped Me Understand a Simple Lesson on Habits
This blog post represents 180 days in a row of me publishing a daily blog. Some days I publish as early as 5:00 am, other days I publish as late as 11:59 pm. The time I publish doesn’t matter, as long as I get done before midnight each and every day.
This current streak represents my third attempt at a daily blog. The first time I tried was back in 2012. I only pushed my streak to 45 days in a row back then. I tried again in 2013-2014 extending my streak to 73 days in a row. On this occasion, I’m clearly blowing away my previous records. In the process, I am also redefining my understanding of habits.
My previous thinking was that “good” habits weren’t habits at all. I thought that only bad habits were truly habits. I thought this because after blogging 45 and then 73 days in a row, I didn’t literally become addicted to the activity. However, now that I have a 180 day streak, I have a new appreciation of what it really means to develop a “good” habit.
My lesson learned is actually rather simple. I set a goal to blog for 365 days in a row. I failed at reaching that goal in two previous attempts. Now, I am closer than ever to reaching my goal. Everyday I wake in the morning thinking about this goal, and everyday I go to bed thinking about this goal. What’s more, throughout the day my brain is constantly dipping in and out of thinking about this goal.
Each day, the closer it gets to midnight without me publishing, the higher my anxiety rises. My stress levels spike at the thought of ending my streak. As of today, writing and publishing a blog post everyday is part of what defines me. It’s who I am and it’s what I do. I don’t want to lose this part of my story, and this is driving me to keep going each day.
I publicly discuss my streak, I share it with friends, family, and colleagues. These discussions add a layer of accountability, and drive me even more to keep going.
My conclusion is this. Good habits form when you totally immerse yourself into an activity. The activity goes from something you do, to something you are. In short, I believe that if you want to develop a good habit, the activity must define you.