How to Handle Broken Commitments to Self
I just wrote yesterday’s post and back-dated it like nothing happened, like…
I didn’t break my commitment to post every day! See? All days are accounted for. You’re trippin’.
It’s kind of a slippery slope though. Now I’m operating under the belief that breaking my commitment is fixable. In other words, so what if I miss a day? I can just double-post the next day and pretend I never lapsed. Pretty soon I’m missing 2 days…then triple-posting. Then 3 days and quadruple-posting. Then…shit, what comes after quadruple…quintupple?
On the other hand, not making up missed posts doesn’t seem any less slippery. I missed a day…fuck it. I missed 2 days…fuck it. I missed an eternity and never came back…
I suppose ultimately the best response is the one that keeps me moving toward my goal. So long as the prospect of making up missed posts doesn’t prevent me from writing today’s post, that seems preferrable, since it results in more posts.
But…I’m posting daily because I decided on that commitment, not because I’m afraid of breaking my winning streak. Right? Am I consciously pushing myself toward a well-thought-out goal or being dragged along by subconscious loss aversion? Surely the former is preferable?
I don’t know. Forget yesterday.