Creating and building a consistent habit takes patience and persistence. Being patient with yourself and keeping going. Streaks can be an important motivator in building habits and maintaining your motivation and momentum.

I’m a big fan of streaks as I know how motivating they can be. Building up a chain of consecutive days when you've successfully perform a specific activity or task.

Whether it’s writing, exercise, reading or anything else, streaks can be a game-changer.

• The satisfaction and sense of achievement as you tick off another day and see the streak build. A visual reminder, whether it’s on an app, your tracking spreadsheet or planner. 
• The determination not to break a streak once you start to build up momentum and it gets longer and longer.
• The more you do, the more you strengthen and build the habit and the easier it becomes.
• Even if you break a streak you have a visual reminder of the progress you made and it gives you the motivation to do better next time. You can track your improvement each time.

When you’re working with others, even if you’re not generally competitive, the motivation to keep up or do better, keeps you going.

Embrace the power of streaks

One thing about running a habit Challenge for others is that it’s an ideal opportunity for me to focus on my own habits!

That’s one of the reasons I run them for others and enjoy doing them!

In this month’s 31 Day Habit Challenge I really wanted to focus on my flexibility or lack of.

Winter, weather and apathy haven’t helped over the last few months. Neither has age creeping up on me and as I celebrated another birthday it was time for change.

So, this month I’m back into building a more consistent, daily stretch habit. Not just to counter the effects of sitting at a computer for most of the day but to increase flexibility, tone and strengthen.

I’m using one of my existing health apps, picking a few quick and easy sessions to start and setting daily reminders.

And I joined a Step Challenge for the month. Another incentive with the better weather, to get out and about, not just into the garden.

There are a couple of other habits I’d like to work on but that’ll do for now. Especially as I’m keeping up my daily Duolingo habit and that’s on a looong streak.

OK, we’re only on Day 4 of this month but I’m already feeling the benefit of stretching in a more mindful way.

It’s not taking a lot of extra time either, in fact I slot it in to my day:

• A 10 minute stretch before lunch while catching up on Wimbledon or the Tour De France which are also happening in July.
• A 15 minute stretch early evening having finished work for the day … or later in the evening before winding down for bed. 

Over the last few weeks on the Build Better Time Habits Course - we’ve been focused on building up a planning habit, a prioritising habit and a focus habit.

None of these are easy, especially when you’re busy but taking things one day at a time builds consistency and progress and develops your winning streak.

Streaks build success, increase productivity and give you a sense of achievement.

Small steps and commitment to making progress result in long-term achievement.

Embrace the power of streaks.