Earlier this year my manager gave me a book titled Streaking. Streaking was penned by a Jami & Jeffery Downs, a husband and wife team that applied the power of streaking to improve their lives. No, streaking isn’t about losing all inhibition and running naked through town or, if you’re particularly ambitious, a football stadium. This kind of streaking is an effective and simple methodology of building good habits.

It’s pretty simple and I’ve found it to be very effective. What you do is identify an easy to complete goal or a task that if you did it each day would change who you are in a positive way. Then you track how many days you can do that task in a row without breaking your streak. The first goal that Jami & Jeffery set was running or walking a mile every day (except Sunday). They maintained that streak for years.

I read Streaking while on vacation in Puerto Rico, and started my own run or walk streak on March 28th running laps in our condo parking lot in Crash Boat Beach. 110 days later and my streak is still going strong. I start each morning by running a mile and I’ve found it to be a fantastic way to get some exercise and start each day out with a win. In 255 days I can register my streak with Streak Runners International. The shortest streak you can register is 1 year. The record for the longest active streak is held by Jon Sutherland and is over 55 years long!

I have several other streaks going. Several weeks into the running streak I realized I already had another streak going that I wasn’t even aware of. I’d been studying Spanish each day with Duolingo. (189 Days) I also have a goal to study a Saylor Academy course for one minute each day. I’m less successful here. My streak reached 59 days until last Saturday when I forgot to take the time to keep it going. I use a simple app called Loop Habit Tracker to track my streaks. It can also nudge you with a helpful reminder to complete your task.

All that is a longwinded way of saying I have a new streak going. I have written for consecutive days, and my friends I count that as a streak.