"Never Break The Chain..."

Photo by Matthias Wagner on Unsplash

Jerry Seinfeld was once asked by a young comic if he had any advice to help him get better. 

His answer was simple: write better jokes - and the only way to do that, was to write every day. In fact, not only should he write every day, but he should keep track of this work:

He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker.

He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day. "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 next is to not break the chain."

Seinfeld’s point, if it isn’t obvious already, is about consistency. Doing the work that’s needed, day after day after day. 

He isn’t suggesting that there’s a point at which it ceases to be work, or that we need to wait for/look for inspiration. Nor is he suggesting that we should expect each day’s work to be “good enough” (it won’t be every single day). 

He’s just saying we need to do the work, bit by bit, day after day. And if we do that consistently enough, we will improve and we will become better at whatever we’ve chosen to do. 

That’s probably the only “secret” to success anyone needs. 

John Mellencamp, when asked about his body of incredible work, once said that if you spent as much time writing as he did, over time, you’d surely write at least a few good songs. That’s not to discount talent, it’s just that I think talent alone is overrated. 

And that’s the point. No magic bullets, no secret recipes.

Just consistent, disciplined, hard work.