"You Are on a 0 Day Streak"...Fail. Your Simple 3 Step Plan to Stop Failing.

I have begun learning Spanish. I took Spanish in Jr. High and High School, but pretty much purged what little Spanish I did know one year after high school when I learned Mongolian to a high level of fluency and spent nearly two years in Outer Mongolia. Since knowing Spanish may connect me with another 470 million native speakers and Mongolian only connects me with 5.7 million speakers at best including many dialects that I doubtless would not understand, I figured now might be a good time to take the plunge. Next on my list will be Chinese.

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.

Today Matters--The Daily Dozen

I have developed the habit of listening to audiobooks on my commute. Since my commute is only about 20 minutes each way, I get less than an hour of "reading" in each day which usually is not enough time to finish a book in the 21 days I have before the library calls the audiobook due (I rent books on my smart phone from OverDrive). So I have gotten into the habit of listening while I do the dishes. This gives me extra listening time soI can finish a few books a month (somehow my wife and kids dirty a lot of dishes while I am at work:)). While I think this annoyed my wife at first because she was not always interested in my book, now I think she appreciates only having to do the dishes occasionally and has moved into the other room while I listen and clean. Now I only annoy her with conversations about the books...we can't win them all.

As an aside: according to Tom Corley http://richhabits.net/?s=read+non+fiction 63% of wealthy people listen to audio books during commute to work vs. 5% for poor people... I must be one of the 5% :) I wonder if when I become wealthy I'll pull the wealthy up to 64% and the poor people will drop to 4%...

I recently finished listening to a book Today Matters: 12 Daily Practices to Guarantee Tomorrow's Success by John C. Maxwell. I really liked how he discussed how each practice affected him in each decade of his life. This sort of showed me a timeline of how practicing each of his "Daily Dozen" principles could affect my life if I start living them now. As a physical therapist I recognize how small changes in behavior can make large changes over time, but it's easy to give up before you see the fruits of your labor. Almost like a farmer giving up on his seeds because he doesn't see them germinating underground. Many times it takes a long time to see progress and it can be difficult to recognize the progress as it comes slowly. I often tell my patients that they may not notice the changes just like a child cannot see their growth in height day by day, but it is significant if measured against a standard scale every 6 months or year.

Maxwell recommends ranking the daily dozen from 1-12 with #1 your strongest and #12 your weakest. Then discuss your ranking with a friend. Then spending 60 days working on two practices from your top 6 and one from your bottom 6. I had trouble ranking them 1-12, but dividing them into top 6 and bottom 6 was easier. Below see the list of "daily dozen" in the order he covers them in the book. I am starting by working on #'s 2, 4, and 5. However, I find that they all are connected and I can't help but be working on others simultaneously. As part of #5 and in an attempt to not overly annoy my wife with random babblings about the books I am listening to, I will begin posting more frequently in this blog. I also feel that this will show my progress in much the same way Maxwell demonstrated his. Without further ado, the daily dozen:

1. Attitude --> Possibilities
2. Priorities --> Focus
3. Health --> Strength
4. Family --> Stability
5. Thinking --> Advantage
6. Commitment --> Tenacity
7. Finances --> Options
8. Faith --> Peace
9. Relationships --> Fulfillment
10. Generosity --> Significance
11. Values --> Direction
12. Growth --> Potential

Now get out there and live them every day...because Today Matters!