The Winning Streaks

How fear of losing something can be motivational

- Smt. Sujatha Rao

We keep hearing common refrains such as 'she seems to be on a winning streak, no matter what!' Are such streaks a result of simple strokes of luck, or pure strokes of genius? Is there something that we can do to put ourselves on such winning streaks? It appears that there is. We could put ourselves on the path of the unbroken, long productive streaks, in order to achieve something significant in life. Does it appear some sort of a word play when I say so? Please read on to find out.

These days every game or lesson worth its name seems to try to lure people in, by giving them stats on how long they have been at it, without breaking the chain. For instance, when I solve the daily world famous "Wordle", it tells me how many unbroken days I have been successful at it. The same goes for my daily language lessons on Duolingo.

When such stats are flashed on the screen and are asked to be shared with friends and family as a badge of honour, you tend to pause, whether you actually end up sharing them or not. That pause is the first indication of the fact that you are hooked.

There have been times I struggle before the clock strikes 12 in the midnight to complete the task for the day, even if it means getting up groggy eyed and reaching out for my phone, so that I add one more glorious day to my streak. I now know why Cinderella lost her glass shoe while competing against the clock striking 12.