When Jerry Seinfeld was still a touring comedian, he had a great system that he used to stay motivated to write every day to work on his jokes.
He had a large wall calendar that displayed the whole year and a red marker. Every day he would write, he would put a red X on that day.
After a few days, he would have a chain going.
And when you have a chain going, you are even more motivated to keep going to grow the chain and to keep the chain from breaking.
Don’t Break the Chain
What about you and your goals?
Do you want to write, exercise, or quit something?
This could be a tool to help keep you motivated. Every day you do it, you put an X. And then keep the chain going.
And when you have a day you don’t feel like doing it – that chain can help keep you motivated.
Encouraging Xs
Ramit Sethi from iwillteachyoutoberich.com in his Ultimate Guide to Habits also offers another good point.
When you have a calendar full of X’s, and you do miss a day, and you break the chain – you can look at all the other red X’s that you’ve done and realize it’s ok.
You don’t have to beat yourself up for it. You have done well. Just start that chain again.
Try it
If you want to try it – just buy yourself a large calendar with all the months of the year on it, a red marker, and choose what daily task you want to do to help reach your goals.
If you would like to read more about Jerry Seinfeld’s method, check out the article at lifehacker.com.
If you try this calendar method or have tried it before, let us know! How did it work for you?
