Small achievable actions lead to big change

For years, I have struggled to achieve my goals. Either I fall short, give up or even fail to start. This cycle would affect my self-confidence and even my motivation to do anything no matter how simple.

Streaks

A few years back I was introduced to “streaks”. This was through an app called Snapchat where my friend and I would send a goofy image every day to each other. Should one of us missed a day we would “break the streak”. Once we hit 100+ it became impossible for us to break. As of writing we are at 1218 days!

Hitting 100 days of one small daily action made me realised we'd formed a habit and discovered a system for keeping us accountable towards a task.

My first streak

For the last 20+ years I'd had been meaning to read the whole Bible. Given the size of the book I'd set myself difficult goals such as “The 90 day Bible Plan” or if I was being “realistic” the “Bible in a year”. Neither worked. Both demanded too much of my time and within days I'd give in.

I decided therefore I would read on chapter a day for as long as it took. Streaks would be used to form the habit and keep me accountable to myself. Should on certain days I encounter a particularly short chapter or hit a “page turner” I'd allow myself a little extra indulgence but the task was one chapter minimum.

Doing the maths, it was clear it would take just over three years. That sounded like an awfully long time, but I recognised that in over 20 years I'd never successfully read beyond Numbers in the Old Testament or Ephesians in the New Testament. I figured if it took 3 years to achieve something I'd not managed in 20 years then it was well worth a try!

Being one small achievable action, I knew I could reasonably commit to this and could track my progress getting that instant reward feedback as the daily streak increased another number.

It didn't take three years in the end, in fact I rocked it in 572 days. Not because I wanted to rush but it turns out there are quite a few page turners in the Bible (and some pretty awful chapters too mind). I'd formed a small achievable habit and was able to adjust over time as I realised what I was capable of. One chapter soon became two then became three.

Small achievable actions lead to big change Lee Matthew Jackson

Beyond the first streak

Since I began this journey over three years ago I've achieved so much by breaking it down into small actions and applying the streak method for self accountability. For the times I've needed to break a habit I've extended the accountability to a friend also to ensure I keep on track.

I've been able to use streaks to:

I am now using streaks to edit my first book that unpacks this all in detail with a view to launching the book in September 2021... so this is my accountability post!

I'll be back to edit with links in a few months!

Lee Matthew Jackson – Mastodon – Podcast