A couple of years ago, I got serious about tracking my habits.
I discovered itโs easier for me to commit to doing something 100% of the time than to settle for 99% of the time or less. How different is 99% from 98%? Or 95%โฆ
The longer a streak gets, the more I want to maintain it because it took so much time to earn. It represents a promise to myself ๐ซก
Progress so far ๐
Below is a screenshot of one of the trackers I use (I use two in case one fails).
Screenshot last updated: 9/9/2024
(yes, I’ll eventually just write a script to autoupdate the tracker…someday ๐ )
Notes
Bugs ๐
Some are over 100% due to changing the frequency. For example, I changed ‘Review KPIs’ to not include Saturday/Sunday. The tracker is buggy, but good enough.
Improvements ๐ก
Others with lower percentages, like Workout, are low because I struggled with maintaining that habit for a long time until I made changes. For example, I had to just build a gym at the house to consistently workout daily, even if for only 10 minutes. I haven’t missed a day since!
Results ๐ช
I love seeing the results. For example, from consistently working out my squat is now above 315lb for reps and my deadlift is over 425lb for reps. I’m proud of these numbers since I had knee surgery due to an old war injury (Afghanistan) and thought I’d never be able to lift this kind of weight again.
A big part of the recovery is consistently doing mobility exercises (ATG) to strengthen my knees and other key areas.
I’m also making progress towards my goal of developing a deeper understanding of the math behind AI. It’s moving slower than I’d like due to higher priorities like my kids and my startup, but I do at least a lesson daily.
Trackers ๐ฃ
Iโve been using Habits Garden for a couple of years (screenshot above), but I maxed out the rewards, and Iโm at the top of the all-time leaderboard (and most others).
So, I recently started also using Habitica, which does a better job of scratching the gamification itch. I pay for both and will continue to use them for the foreseeable future.