We love it when we gain, but we really hate it when we lose. How streaks can hack your motivation.

By: Mike Collette

This week’s theme at Prototype Training Systems has been around Motivation. Today, we are talking about something that might hack your motivation. This can work for ANYONE, whether you are doing our CrossFit classes or working with one of our Personal Trainers, it all applies!

 

We often think that the best form of motivation is purely based on the goals we set.

 

“Right now I’m motivated to lose 20lbs!”

 

But I have to tell you that we as human beings are far more motivated by what we have to lose than what we have to gain.

 

Yesterday I put a post up in our private Prototype Training Community Facebook group about streaks. I asked the question “what are your current streaks and what are you most proud of that you’ve consistently done?”.

 

This didn’t have to be a long streak, it could be a few days, a week, or even two.

 

We got several responses ranging from “no caffeine for 4 days” to “8 months of Keto with no cheating!” They were all awesome AND they were all current PR’s.

 

Streaks keep us motivated because we don’t want to start over again OR disappoint ourselves for LOSING the streak. Why do you think some of these apps and games are so addicting? Well, they hook you in on your playing streaks. It drives you to do it more.

 

I love streaks. Remember, I’m a checklist guy!

 

Currently, I have a few streaks going on:

 

  • 233 days straight of cold showers (Every day since Jan 1)
  • 81 weeks straight of 5 workouts a week (Every week since Feb 2019)
  • 16 weeks straight with over a 10,000 step avg (Since May 1)
  • 157 days I’ve sent an email to our member’s (March 16th, the day we closed due to COVID-19)

A 4 week streak of step data of getting over 10,000 steps in

 

I don’t want to lose these streaks. Candidly, I’d be incredibly disappointed in myself if I did!

 

As my mentor Chris Cooper (Founder of Two Brain Business)  said, “we’re wired to avoid loss more than we’re motivated to seek gain” and it’s incredibly true.

 

We can use streaks in our daily lives to develop habits that align with our personal goals. 

 

My Fitness Pal (MFP) does this in their app and notifies you of how many times you’ve logged in a row. There is no surprise why Coach Jon has been so successful with his nutrition, he’s logged his food 1435 days in a row! That’s just under 4 years straight, every day. Epic streak. 

Coach Jon's current streak of 1435 days in a row of logging on MFP!

 

Streaks keep us going and they’re STRATEGIES that can be really, really good OR not so good. 

 

They can even save our lives.

 

So, what streaks are you currently most proud of?

 

What is something that you want to start and keep doing that will drive you closer to your goals?

 

Talk with us directly if you need help sorting through this.