And no, I don't mean "streaky" as in "20 minutes after eating McD's" but rather, what is something that you are inconsistent at?
For example, I have noticed that I am really inconsistent at billiards. Some days I'm on, most days I'm off and just often enough I play like I'm pretty good and then lose in an embarrassing fashion.
Now, I'm not really a golf kind of guy, but at one point in time I did have a pretty decent golf swing and would hit balls around, though I'd never play with anyone. Last time I went to a driving range, the balls hooked so hard they almost came back at me.
Finally, I am inconsistent at writing. That's to be expected I guess, but I know a lot of writers who get writer's block, or more commonly, they just end up with pages and pages of shit and feel bad about it. I figure that no one writes gold all the time so it's nothing to feel bad about, but for a lot of writers I think it feels like because so much time is spent in learning how to write and how to write well, that it should be of a consistently high standard, which is not the case.
So hubski, what are you "streaky" at?
Running and fitness. kleinbl00 (I swear that's my last shout-out to you tonight) can attest to this. He pointed out an app to me called "myfitnesspal" that I was rocking for a good few weeks in a row and I've completely fallen off the wagon. I was running etc and now I'm back to feeling tired, fat and unmotivated to do anything active. I go in waves where I'll be really, really fit and active and then all of a sudden, I stop. Granted, I don't have a ton of time during the day to run since my son was born, but still I could make it more of a priority than I have of late. I'm definitely "streaky."
If I may suggest something that helped me: Find a program, do a program, find a new program. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/find-a-plan.html Nobody can stay motivated doing the same thing forever. I recently ended an 8-week training program targeting strength and mass, then froze my membership and started running and am working my way into a steady calisthenic program (bodyweight exercises, easily done outdoor with a pull-up bar and other jungle gym stuff). Diversify and keep your original goal ever everything-- for me, its meeting West Point physical exam requirements, and having confidence in my strength. How I do it is therefore flexible. Those apps ain't gonna work for you, they're for you to look back on and be proud that you worked, that's it. If you mainly run and are losing motivation, fighting time constraints etc. but don't want to find something different, change up your run. As in, change up how you're running, short distances or interval training etc.
I love bodyweight exercises and highly encourage people to pick them up. Bodyweight exercises have just about the lowest barrier to entry in terms of working out - you don't need any equipment, you don't need to leave your house, you barely have to change out of your business clothes if you work during the day. Heck you can sneak some in at work if you choose some subtle ones. For those of you that use things with apps, there is one called "You Are Your Own Gym" by Mark Lauren. It does cost money (I may have gotten it for free on a special one day, can't remember) but it provides an extensive library of bodyweight exercises (GUYS DID YOU KNOW THE CRABWALK IS A BODYWEIGHT EXERCISE?) as well as programs and steps to help you achieve certain milestones - for instance, if you want to be able to complete a pull-up. It has videos as well as descriptions of the exercises. I'm also big on incorporating fitness into daily life. I walk the stairs at work when I can, sometimes instead of using a bathroom on my floor I walk up or down a flight and then use the bathroom for example.
Important thing to note is how hard it can get. If you've been hitting the gym for a while sure you might knock out some push-ups or a good plank, but how about a set of muscle ups? A human flag? There's a lot of room for progress. Also your body burns fat way better and the muscle it builds, on most guys at least, is insane.
I have myfitnesspal, but I never use it, even though daily fitness is important to me, as is calorie counting. It's a good app, and using it wouldn't hurt me, probably would even help me. But those days that I overeat, it's hard enough to know I've overeaten; I really, really don't like putting it down in numbers. What I do personally is I have a set of daily goals and I use the app "Don't Break The Chain." DBTC is really simple, and you can also use it as a website - one chain is free, if you want more than one chain on the app you have to pay (I have 7 chains). Anyway, every day that you achieve your goal, you just tap on (or click) that day, and an X appears. I like it because most of the time I'm interested simply in knowing, "Am I really making progress towards my goals?" I like to quantify my progress; I like to know how many days I've done something vs. how many I haven't. I also find that running multiple chains reduces the feeling of "failure" if I do not achieve at one. My goal is usually to hit 3-4/day, any more is gravy. I consistently fail at "Didnt Go Out." 3 goals are writing-related and 3 goals are fitness-related...wonder what I prioritize :)
The #photochallenge :( I've been traveling lately and I have very limited internet/time and i've stopped putting up the challenges. I'm sorry Hubski but I promise i'll get back to it when back and have lots of new pictures to share! I really feel out of the loop whenever i log back into hubski these days. The whole sticker design stuff and hubskina adventure is great! I feel like i'll have to take some time to catch up on all the awesome stuff when i'm back :P BTW, if anybody wants to take over for the photochallenge (even if only for a while) that would be great!
Safe travels elizabeth! I hope that you are taking lots of photographs! I look forward to a #tripreport! I know that ecib started the photo challenges waaaaay back in the day with a phone photo challenge. Remember that ecib? You had a great shot if someone getting a tattoo that is seared in my memory. -strong image. Any chance you'd be down to host a weekly #photochallenge? I can too and I'm sure insomniasexx, b_b and others can jump in too. No worries elizabeth, we've got you covered.
Of course i'll do some #tripreports when i'm back :) I have about a month of adventures left but it's not like before when I was living/studying in Warsaw and traveling on weekends and vacations (or skipping school). Now it's some full on backpacking across eastern europe and the balkans. It's fulfilling but exhausting. I love it so far. And I still try to stick the Hubski stickers whenever I can. Sometimes it s when we re out drinking and i leave my camera at home so I don t have photo proof for many. I m pretty proud of the sticker on the Maidan in Kiev tho :) https://hubski.com/pub?id=162089
Writing. I'm getting past it by publishing those pages of pages of shit anyways. I may or may not be talking about Hubskina, but you know. Also related to writing, blogging. I want every post to be well-written and awesome and thoughtful and unique and it results in me not writing anything for weeks at a time. Speaking of, I need to post today. Running, somedays I can go miles, some days I go 10 minutes and decide I want to do sit-ups or push-ups or anything else that doesn't involve putting one foot in front of the other. And then more generally, being creative. Right now I'm on a roll in terms of projects I'm working on and things like that, but that's because it's summer. School really kills the creativity in me.
Cooking some days Iron Chef on others I burn grilled cheese.
Being happy. I will never be consistently happy and I will never be consistently content with my life and confident in the person I am and what I want from life. I'm very peaks and valleys in that regard. Golf is up there for me too, sometimes my mechanics work and I don't suck, but most of the time I suck. Writing and recording music, but I'm trying to improve on that and have been posting some more things I've been working on.
This is mine more than anything else. I play a lot of pick up at the gym so I've gotten to know (recognize) some of the guys that play there. Some of them think I should be playing in the league and others would pick a twelve year old girl over me, depending on the days they've seen me. My first two shots have a lot to do with how I play so it's probably mostly in my head. I hate that I'm streaky but it feels really good when I'm on. Also, watch this if you haven't. I'm the "my bad guy" on my off days.
Socializing. I'm kind of introvert/extravert bipolar, in a way. Some months I'll hang out with people almost every day, and constantly have that urge to hit people up when I'm alone. Other times I'll go weeks without even contacting anyone, and will suddenly realize that I've gone several weekends without even considering calling up a friend to kick it with.
I feel that way about a lot of things and I think that everyone goes through those ups and downs to some extent. Personally, I am working on staying in touch with people I care about who I am pretty sure care about me too. It's really easy for distance to creep in and personally I want to put the work in to maintain my relationships.
Chess. Some days I can be a genius, other days I'm like a 5 year old. Actually I guess I'm this way with pretty much any game, be it a video game or a board game.