1,000 Days
This post is an excerpt originally posted on Firefly Scout, my business focused on remembering your magic and living a life that lights you up. For the full article, click here —> Link
I would describe myself as mom, small business owner, avid reader, Gilmore girls fan, and nature lover.
But a streaker… Nope.
Starting a streak didn’t come out of nowhere.
I've been an avid FitBit converted to iWatch wearer, since 2013, switching in 2019, so I was no stranger to tracking my activity. But usually not being not much more than a casual observer of the daily tallies and not being consistently consistent. I would have mini streaks when I was committed to a goal or intention, like following a distance-based training program for a 5k to a marathon. But with that I was more interested in what my Garmin was tracking for distance and time, not daily fitness activity.
Somewhere along the way, around 2018, I took a deeper interest in self improvement and my own personal growth. Maybe because I was a newer mom of 2, realizing how much my kids were teaching me about myself, my limits and meeting challenges, providing the nudge to see what else this life experience could teach me.
I started reading more books and listening to podcasts and started feeding my mind some new thoughts, some new possibilities. And some seeds were being planted.
To really understand what started this streak, let’s jump to Fall, 2019.
One of the podcasts I listened to kept hyping the last 90 days of the year, of the decade, to start preparing yourself for the New Year goals with some good habits, to not let those 3 months just slip by. I liked the idea of a different kind of goal, focusing on habit building and consistency. I was late jumping on board, but I decided that on December 1, I would keep a daily promise to myself for the last 31 days of the decade to help me feel focused and that I was setting myself up for success in 2020.
Something about closing out the decade strong felt like something I needed to do. So, I did, building on a foundation I had already established.
For 31 days, I closed the activity rings on my iWatch (standing, fitness minutes, calorie goal). And it did feel good.
Then I decided to start the decade strong, and then why not go for 90 days. By that time, I was streaking! Having a daily commitment to honor to myself was helping me have evidence of my growth and dedication.
Somewhere in there I decided to go for a 6-month streak, adding stretch goals that kept building upon each other. And then we all know what happened mid-March 2020.
As the world was losing all sense of normal, I had a sense of purpose I could hold onto. I had this daily streak to maintain, to preserve a small shred of normal.
Daily Promises
Keeping this daily promise to myself, to move my body in a way I (mostly) enjoy, often out in nature, was a huge buoy to my mental health when I felt like I was drowning in nearly every other aspect of life.
I was growing self-confidence with every day that ticked by, a measurable way to see that I was showing up for myself each day. That no matter what else was going on, I could trust that I would keep my promise to myself. My daily walk became a sanctuary of sorts. Space for my thoughts, to breathe and occasionally cry.
As I got to know the paths near my home, I got to know myself better too.
As I noticed the changes inspired by Mother Nature, I noticed the small shifts within myself.
As the days sometimes felt too messy, too cold to brave heading out for a walk, yet going anyway, I felt a growing sense of bravery as I headed deeper into myself and the places that felt too messy, too challenging to explore.
And that slowly led to feeling braver to stretch myself in new ways, to dare to ask "what if" and act on some of those dreams.
What started as a commitment to a daily habit to help with momentum for the days ahead, evolved into self-care practice. My mindset shifted from this being something I have to do, something that should feel like a challenge and a push to be, do and know better into a more gentle daily experience that is a critical element of my mental and physical well-being.
Your Turn
We are approaching fall, when school starts back up and routines shift. It's an ideal time to start your own sort of streak of daily promises as you adjust to a new normal anyway. Find a quiet moment and ask yourself where do you need to show up better for yourself in your life. What unmet need is squawking loudly and how you can start to help it feel met?
I've got some tips to help you get started with your own promise streak-
Make it personally meaningful. Pick something that will fulfill something deep within you, for YOU. Something that will help you feel like you are showing up for the best version of yourself in even the smallest of ways each day.
Commit to when. Picking a date to commit to start that feels meaningful or significant in some way helps add to the importance of starting. Gretchen Rubin talks about it in her Calendar of Catalysts blog post.
Take a breath and just start. Making a daily promise to yourself is a big deal. But you know what, you're beyond worth the confidence that comes with having the evidence that you have your own back. Just start and don't worry when you feel the challenge of being consistent. Repeating Day 1 is better than never leaving Day 0.
You get to decide what counts. The only one that this promise matters to is you, so you get to decide what counts toward the growth-focused daily promise you set for yourself.
Integrity matters most. Stay in integrity with yourself though and don't just change the bar because you couldn't show up for yourself that day. Being honest with yourself is better than eroding the trust you are building with lame excuses.
It will evolve over time. Again, this is a promise to yourself and as you get more consistent with keeping those promises, you are going to grow and change. So the daily promise should evolve as well.
Celebrate along the way. As you hit milestones (or just because it feels good) be sure to notice and celebrate your growth. Reflect on how you've shifted or changed and become a better version of yourself.
As I cross over the 1,000-day streak mark, I am feeling more emboldened to really dream big for what I'm setting my sights on next. All because I started with deciding to commit to a goal that called to me, daring to believe in myself and giving myself the evidence of showing up for myself every dang day.
I didn’t start this streak with the intent to have it last this long. But starting with the intent to set myself up for future success, by showing up for myself each day, further strengthening my foundation has changed the entire trajectory of my life. Tangible evidence that I was showing up for my future self every day has instilled a level of self-confidence that I wouldn’t have known otherwise. So, I’m not focusing on hitting 2,000 days. Going back to how this all started, I’ll just keep adding stretch goals, small daily steps that keep building upon each other, continuing to grow my self-knowledge and adding to my foundation for wherever this streak takes me.
If you enjoyed this post and want to explore knowing yourself more deeply, check out the full post on my Firefly Scout blog. (link)