I've been doing this with a series of daily habits for years. It's extremely effective. I'm approaching 75 days on my current round and I'll do pretty much anything to make sure I do the daily habit and keep the streak going. When I've broken the streak in the past, it's frustrating, but the strength of my habits has grown over time, so it's easy to get started again.
The problem with the statement: "If you want to write every day, just write every day" is that it ignores the fact that "you want" is highly dynamic over time. There are many days when I don't want to work out, but in the long run and in hindsight, I definitely want the benefits that come from being healthy. The main point of building habits is to overcome the daily lack of motivation that keeps you from accomplishing what you really want to accomplish.
Anyway, I find it amusing that you dismiss this so carelessly without having tried it, when it's pretty clear that it works for a lot of folks.
The problem with the statement: "If you want to write every day, just write every day" is that it ignores the fact that "you want" is highly dynamic over time. There are many days when I don't want to work out, but in the long run and in hindsight, I definitely want the benefits that come from being healthy. The main point of building habits is to overcome the daily lack of motivation that keeps you from accomplishing what you really want to accomplish.
Anyway, I find it amusing that you dismiss this so carelessly without having tried it, when it's pretty clear that it works for a lot of folks.