I’ve done a variety of streaks over the last bunch of years. I find the whole streak concept to be a decent motivator for things like fitness, daily tasks or trying to establish or break habits.

But sometimes a streak can be less than positive and for that reason, I think it’s more valuable to “break” a streak if you find it isn’t providing positive motivation anymore.

An example of this for me is something like the Wordle streak or completing the New York Times crossword. Wordle is an interesting one because you can lose your streak even if you still do the puzzle everyday because if you don’t get the word in six guesses, you lose the streak even though you put in the effort. That seems a bit counter productive to me and for that reason, I think it’s best to not care too much about that one.

Something like waking 7,500 steps a day is another one that I think is hit and miss. Sometimes life just gets in the way and maybe you can’t get out to do all the steps. For example, if you are travelling by plane or something and it’s just not possible to walk the 6-7km needed in the day. For situations like that, I’ll just lower my daily goal to something that is reasonable for that day (or week) and continue the streak. For me, it’s not “7,500 steps a day”, but rather “do a good bit of daily walking”.

Keep your streaks in perspective and don’t get too invested in keeping them up for streak’s sake. Remember the real goal of whatever you are tracking with a streak and focus on that instead. If you like the break that doing the Wordle provides, then do the Wordle. But don’t fret if you miss one…it’s not about “winning” but rather about taking some time to do it.