Anyway, I got a Duolingo account and began learning. The first few sections were enjoyable and easy as I relearned the most basic "Hola" etc. Then I had to buckle down and start learning. After a few weeks of sporadic efforts at best, I decided that I really was going to put in the effort, so I busted out a 52 day streak. Then Halloween happened.
I worked late and went straight to my sister-in-law's party, then went straight home arriving some time after midnight and Kabaam! Now I have a 0 day streak. Lame. As in, I am lame.
So the question is when did I lose my 52 day streak?
Answer: The day before Halloween when I did not foresee the fact that I usually study in the evening and likely would not get that opportunity on Halloween, duh.
And the moral of the story is...we all need to do a better job of planning ahead.
Other times we "plan to fail because we fail to plan", then make excuses as to why it wasn't our fault even though it really was:
Waiting until the last minute to buy gifts for a birthday, anniversary, Christmas, or other holiday. "I can't believe every store was out of _____." (They weren't out 3 weeks ago when you should have ordered it.)
Waiting until the last minute to get ready to go to your event, party, meeting, date, job interview etc. "Traffic is never that bad" (Yes it is...every day...you should have left 20 minutes earlier and you would have been on time...and you should know how long it really takes yourself to get ready by now.)
Eating all that junk at work, that party, home. "Cravings happen, and I just had to try _____. (No, they don't just happen and no, you didn't have to try it. You know what sets off your cravings and you should have a healthy snack ready.)
Smoking, drinking, snorting, or otherwise participating in ______. "I just can't help myself." (Yes, you can. But maybe not in that moment. If you had planned ahead, you could have because you would have had a plan for just that moment, situation and/or scenario.)
Recent research has shown that you may be right. You may not be thinking straight in the moment of temptation or neglect. That is precisely why we need to plan ahead when we are level headed. We need to have a "pre-mortem".
In a situation where things could go wrong or have gone wrong in the past do the following:
1. Ask yourself, "If this was going to fail, why would it have?" in other words, "If tomorrow I wake up and I have failed, in what way did I fail and what could I have done differently so I would not have?"
2. Make a plan that fixes or prevents that failure (kills the excuses).
3. Follow your plan no matter what.
So, when Thanksgiving and Christmas and Kwanzaa and New Year's come around I will:
1. Ask myself the day before. "Adam, how will I lose my __ day streak on Duolingo tomorrow?"
2. I need to do my Spanish in the morning so I don't forget to do it after dinner when I'm "Trippin' on Tryptophan". I think I'll set an alarm for the morning so I wake up on time and schedule a phone reminder to ring in at noon in case I forget in the morning. Also, I think I'll plan my outfit and pack the diaper bag tonight so I'm not late even after getting stuck in that horrible holiday traffic. Then, when that delicious pumpkin pie comes my way I'm going to reward myself for having done my Duolingo by eating three slices with an extra helping of whipped cream--can't win them all, right?
3. Wake up on time. Do my Duolingo. Eat my pie! 365 day streak here I come.
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