I like winning streaks. How far will I go to preserve one?
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That question came to me as I faced the first surgery of my life, on a toe whose cartilage had worn out.
Would I take sick leave for the first time in decades or would I take annual leave to preserve my streak of no sick leave?
What would you do?
My most frequent thoughts about streaks have come when I play tennis and go several games without missing a shot.
Almost as soon as I realise that I have been perfect so far, I miss a shot.
I do not believe in jinxes, so I reject the jinx explanation for my failures to maintain tennis perfection. I have a psychological explanation: Thinking of the streak adds psychological pressure.
Thoughts of maintaining perfection can lead to chokes.
So I may have choked. Or maybe my luck ran out.
It is hard to be perfect for long.
Thinking of those streaks led me to recognise many other streaks that I had never recognised.
I have gone decades without an ER visit and without an overnight stay in a hospital.
I have gone decades without having a gun pointed at me. I have not been slugged in decades.
I have gone years without doing a pull-down with a weight machine in a gym. That lift always causes me neck pain. I give myself credit for that streak.
I have not had an auto accident in years.
I have not fallen off my bicycle in many years.
It has been a long time since I twisted an ankle. And I have weak ankles.
I have never fallen off a roof. I am of the age, sex, and personality where the odds are against me on maintaining this streak.
I have a lot of streaks going that I never thought about!
How about you?
Which streaks do you feel happiest about?
Let's return to the topic of my toe surgery.
I decided to take sick leave, with the idea that I would then feel free later to take sick leave if I develop a contagious disease or something serious.
Trying to preserve a streak can lead to bad outcomes.
Streaks can be fun to think about and motivating, but I don't want one to motivate me too much.
I will drive carefully to try to keep the accident-free streak going, but I know that stuff happens.
John Malouff is an Associate Professor at the School of Psychology, University of New England.