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Don't Break The Chain

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

::The Seinfeld Method::Don't Break the Chain::  In an interview fellow comic Brad Isaac shared a secret to productivity shared with him by Jerry Seinfeld.  Jerry told Brad that the way to be a better comic was to create better jokes and the way to create better jokes was to write every day.  He told Brad to get a big wall calendar - one with a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall.  The next step was to get a big red magic marker and place a big red X over each day where you've completed your writing task.  After a few days you'll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job is to not break the chain.

We have 34 days left in the year 2017. So, it's time to start thinking about goals right? New year, new you, new challenges and all of that. Maybe you don't want to change your whole entire self but we all have a few things we need to work on, goals we are chasing. Guess what? I suck at sticking with it most of the time. I need lots of tricks, crutches, carrots dangling out in front of my nose. I also need something tangible to look at, it helps me to write things down for example... blogging, my planner, even the short lived bullet journal (way too much work). It also is extremely helpful to me to keep the goals short term. I can't say "I will not eat nachos for the next 365 days" or "this year I will stay off Tinder"... not gonna happen. But I could do either one of those things for maybe a month or a season. That is building momentum toward a bigger goal like eating healthier, focusing on more meaningful relationships or whatever it may be.

So this coming year once again,I am not setting long term goals. Don't get me wrong, they are in my conscious like 24/7 ad nauseum because... Virgo... but I am going even smaller this year. Like one day at a time smaller. I recently stumbled upon something called a Don't Break The Chain Calendar on Instagram. It's actually a method that Jerry Seinfeld came up with to challenge himself to write new material each day. One of the Keto bloggers I follow posted about her year long Keto journey and using this type of calendar to focus on one day of Keto at a time and simply not breaking the chain.

On average it takes 66 days to form a new habit. That will certainly vary based on the person and many other factors. The reality is that it takes more like anywhere from 18 to 254 days for most of us. I know, that's a huge discrepancy and I would be willing to bet you know roughly where you fit on the spectrum. I think I am somewhere around the average area. If I do something for 66 days I typically can keep it going for maybe another 60, then I start to wane and slack off. I don't really know why but it seems to be a pattern. So this year I am going to pick one or two "big ticket items" if you will and just see how long I can go before I break the chain. I haven't decided exactly what they are going to be yet but I am going to start now just for practice with Keto for the next however long I can make it till a holiday party throws egg nog or cookies in my face and I break down. I think there will be something very motivating about just seeing the chain grow.

Free 2017 Don’t Break the Chain Calendar | Motivational Tool Printable | Karen Kavett


Anyone interested in taking a stab at this and keeping each other accountable? 

3 comments :

  1. I like that idea! I'm going to keep mine small too. I'm not doing any big 2018 goals because I've already got my 30 by 30 going, my new 101 in 1001 will start in March, & then I usually try to break those down into my seasonal goals. Adding more just overwhelms me & then something, or everything, will get forgotten.

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  2. Ohhh I love the idea of taking it day by day. I need to figure out my heating goals for 2018 and maybe start on January 1. It might not be the same goal for the entire year, but maybe Whole 30 for the first 30 days and then whatever I am doing after Whole 30 to start the next month. Such a good idea!

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  3. Hey – great blog, just looking around some blogs, seems a really nice platform you are using. I’m currently using WordPress for a few of my blogs but looking to change one of them over to a platform similar to yours as a trial run. Anything in particular you would recommend about it?

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