Momentum matters

Introducing "Streaks" in Canopy 💫

I’ve always appreciated the quiet satisfaction of doing something on a regular basis.

In my twenties, I read “Make Your Bed” for the first time, after it was recommended to me by a fellow entrepreneur. (Admittedly, I approached it quite skeptically, as I wasn’t sure what making your bed had to do with much of anything.)

I found it surprisingly profound. Written by a former Navy SEAL and Four-Star Admiral, William H. McRaven posits that making your bed helps to change your life. You set a tone for the day – you’ve accomplished something already. And even though it’s little, the little things matter, as they add up over time.

You did something small, and it counts for something.

Ever since reading the book, I tried to make my bed regularly. In the beginning, I found it oddly difficult to remember to do. Then I begrudgingly would try to remind myself to “get back on the horse” and try again the next morning.

But over time, I fell into a natural rhythm.

I went one week where I made my bed every day… And then all of sudden, that became two weeks, then three.

Now, it’s automatic. It’s a habit.

The power of momentum

I think often about the power of that momentum. How a nudge of encouragement, a reminder to keep up the streak, can help us transform aspirational actions into real lasting action. Even if it’s about something as small as making your bed.

For us as leaders, I think this applies to many of the actions we hope to practice, especially learning to become a better leader.

We assert that “we don’t have the time” to devote to learning as a leader…

But what if learning was just 90 seconds each day or each week – rather than feeling like we need to devour a whole book all at once?

What if learning was simply about showing up and doing something small – rather than believing we need to make big, sweeping changes?

What if we as leaders could focus on keeping up our learning momentum – rather than believing the only value of learning is in “completion”?

Building momentum into Canopy

We decided to bake this into Canopy, our leadership improvement app...

Introducing Streaks 💫 — an easy, automatic way to encourage your learning as a leader.

Here’s a peek at what it looks like in Canopy:

And you don’t have to be a paid member to use it: We have a Free Plan in Canopy, where you can access Streaks and many of our free resources.

For example, you can keep up your Streak by completing any meaningful learning activity in Canopy, including:

• 📊 Filling out a Leadership Skills Assessment (free)

• 🎧 Listening to a 90-second tip (free)

• 📚 Participating in a 5-minute lesson (some are free to access)

• ✍️ Completing a reflection at the end of a lesson (some are free to access)

• 🎥 Watching a previous event recording (some are free to access)

See your streaks progress on your Home screen here and in our iOS App in the top upper right hand corner:

Then, maintain your Streak by continuing to knock out a learning each week. It takes just a few minutes, or even less...

Start your streak by listening to today’s daily tip here, if you haven't already. (This one only takes 49 seconds!)

Whether it’s making your bed or learning as a leader – sometimes a nudge of encouragement to maintain a streak is all you need.

Look forward to hearing what you think.

-Claire

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💚 If you’re keen to have your team more thoroughly maintain learning momentum, consider partnering with me personally and our team to implement a custom leadership training program for your internally-promoted managers, based on our past decade of research.