Jerry Seinfeld’s Don’t Break the Chain Habit Method

Jerry Seinfeld’s Don’t Break the Chain Habit Method.

Jerry Seinfeld shared that when he was an up and coming comedian he made a pact to himself that he would write one joke per day. Not a whole skit or monologue just one funny joke every single day. Every day he would draw a big X on his calendar when he wrote the joke. Over time he would get a string of X’s through his calendar which was visual proof at how consistent he was. Here’s why I think Jerry Seinfeld’s don’t break the chain habit method is amazing: the more you keep going the less you’ll want to break your chain.

This is a good practice in creating habits. It seems like a small thing, just one joke per day but over time you’re improving your skills, and building a whole library of something related to your craft. It’s the small daily things that add up, and become the big things that are what eventually set you apart.

Inspiration Comes and Goes.

The thing is, none of us are motivated or inspired 24/7. That just doesn’t happen. But it’s those who commit to their craft and push through even in those times where inspiration is low that can create something great and lasting. Some days you might have those jokes flowing to you and you end up writing out a full monologue, and then other days it might be a complete struggle to come up with the one joke, but you still show up and make it work.

My Unintentional Experience with ‘Don’t Break the Chain’

2 years ago I decided to do a 30 day yoga challenge throughout the month of December ( I actually blogged about it here ). I really didn’t think much about it at the time and thought ‘hey this might be fun, let’s give it a go’.

What ended up happening was that the longer I went on my yoga streak the more motivated I was to keep going – the later in the game it got the less I wanted to miss a day because there would just be a big hole there. I even remember waking up the day after Christmas hungover AF and not wanting to do my daily yoga… but that was day 26. Day freaking 26, and I had done every single day up to that point. There was no way I was breaking my streak at day 26 so I did the damn yoga.

At the end of that challenge I felt SO good about myself. Knowing that I set my mind to something and accomplished it. Even though it was only 20-30 minutes per day it meant something bigger overall to me. What’s funny is that at the time I did my own little challenge I didn’t know about Jerry Seinfeld’s don’t break the chain habit method. It makes so much sense though and I had that living proof in that moment that it worked out extremely well for me too.

I encourage you to pick a habit you want to adopt and find a bite sized piece of it that you can implement into your routine every single day. It doesn’t have to be an extravagant thing ever day but commit even just 5 minutes per day. Start filling your calendar and don’t break the chain.

E xx