One of my goals this year is to be more consistent with my Spanish practice.
So far so good.
I haven't missed a day this year. My current streak on Duolingo is 23 days.
But here's the thing, some days I've only done 1 lesson which takes me about 3 minutes.
Ok, let me be honest, most days I've only done one lesson.
Now if my goal was to be fluent in 6 months, this would be no good. I would be very behind.
But it's not.
My goal is to practice Spanish every day, which I have done.
I'm winning and this feeling of succeeding motivates me to keep going and not break my streak.
Plus I know that if I practice every day, sooner or later I will be fluent.
By allowing myself to do less, I have done more.
3 minutes on a given day isn't a lot and won't make a lot of difference.
But so far this month that's an hour of Spanish practice that I may not have done if I had set the bar higher.
And every time I complete a lesson I'm reaffirming the fact that I am someone who learns Spanish every day.
It becomes a new identity.
I will do more, but right now I have other priorities that are taking up my time.
But I didn't want to wait to get started.
I know there is no perfect time.
I wanted to make it a habit now, so I can improve it later.
So if you're struggling to make a habit stick, are you asking too much of yourself at this moment in time?
Can you lower the bar?
What can you do to make being consistent as easy as possible?
It doesn't mean you can't do more, it just means you don't have to.
You may want to do more in the future and you should.
But this is now and you have to start where you are.
Someone who consistently does a little will always outperform someone who sporadically does a lot in the long run.
Be the former.
Thanks for reading this today, I appreciate it.
Karl