For years my habits lived in boom and bust cycles. A low target felt like coasting. A high target broke the streak. The pace was too much to keep up.
So I banked. Beat the target? Store the surplus for tomorrow’s bad day.
It worked for a while. The bank grew. I’d coast on it for days. The muscle to show up weakened. When the bank ran low, I couldn’t rebuild it.
Think about kids born rich. They inherit money they didn’t earn. Over time, some lose the ability to make their own. The money was there. The skill to rebuild it was gone.
Banking did the same thing to my habits.
Then I put my habits on ranges.
A floor, a target, a ceiling.
The range solved what the bank was trying to solve:
- Bad days
- Travel
- Chaos
And I still showed up every day. On a bad day, I hit the floor. On a good day, I push toward the ceiling. The range absorbs the shock. The daily effort stays.
Say my meditation range is a floor of ten minutes, a target of thirty, a ceiling of sixty. On a good day, I meditate for sixty. On a tired day after a long flight, I sit for ten. I still showed up. The streak lives.
🏋️
Which habit keeps breaking because the target refuses to bend?
