Don't Break the Chain!

First a quote: “You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” – John C. Maxwell

Hello and happy Monday,

Before diving into today’s message, please allow me to share a short story of successful goal achievement and then a practical approach to changing habits that matter to you.

This past week, I met a new friend (Ron Price) for coffee—a person I have long admired and respected from a distance. He’s an author, leadership expert, successful entrepreneur, and a genuinely caring individual. While we have known of each other for years, this was the first time we met face-to-face.?

By mere coincidence, I also ran into another colleague, Dr. Jeremy Graves , at the same coffee shop that morning. Jeremy and I share similar professional passions. We met originally as colleagues of sorts at Boise State University.

After exchanging pleasantries, Jeremy said, “Bryan, I’ll never forget where we were standing the day you challenged me to start writing my first book. Your counsel was to write something every day; no matter how much, or how little, write every single day.”

That simple encouragement combined with a little persistence was all he needed to change his habits and move forward with his dream of becoming a successful author.

Since then, Jeremy has written three books and is a sought-after speaker and consultant. (I’ve shared links to his books below.)

"Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed." Cavett Robert

That short exchange triggered this morning’s topic. I love success stories!

Today is January 20, 2025, and I begin with a simple question: How are you progressing with either your New Year’s resolutions, or other important goals?

This assumes, of course, that you set goals, and/or resolutions, to improve some aspect of your life this coming year. According to a recent Medifast survey, only about half of us make resolutions.

And unfortunately, research also highlights another discouraging truth: many of us abandon our resolutions early. Within the first two weeks of January, a significant percentage of us have already given up. By the end of the year, only 8% of people who set resolutions will have achieved their goals.

These statistics might make you wonder, “Why bother at all?”

But despite the odds, there is a straightforward and effective way to improve your chances: track your daily progress! You can be a part of the successful 8%!

"Successful people aren’t born that way. They become successful by establishing the habit of doing things unsuccessful people don’t like to do." – William Thackeray

The Power of "Don’t Break the Red-X Chain"

One powerful technique, often attributed to comedian Jerry Seinfeld, is called “Don’t Break the Chain.”

Here’s the story as I know it: **

A young comedian once asked Seinfeld how to succeed in the entertainment industry. Seinfeld advised the young protégé to write a joke—or something funny—every single day without fail. Over time, this habit would build his repertoire of jokes, sharpen his skills, and build confidence.

And the simple but powerful “trick” to make it work, Seinfeld suggests using a calendar. For every day he wrote a joke, he was to mark a large red “X”, connecting the corners on that calendar. As the days passed, the X’s formed a chain—a visual representation of his commitment.

The goal was then simple: Don’t break the chain.

This method works because seeing progress in a visual way provides us with the motivation to keep going.

Science supports this idea: completing tasks triggers the release of dopamine, a feel-good chemical that reinforces positive behavior. The longer the chain grows, the harder it becomes to break—it just feels too good to stop.

“The chains of habit are too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”– Dr. Samuel Johnson

Building Habits That Last

Research suggests it takes 30 to 90 days to create a lasting habit. Here’s how to get started:

1. Start Small Choose a simple, meaningful behavior that aligns with your goals and feels manageable. Early successes build confidence. That confidence will help you take on bigger and more complicated goals. Success begets more success in ever expanding circles.
2. Use a Calendar Track your progress with a physical calendar or a digital tool. The power of the calendar is to see “the chain” you’re building day by day.? That is the secret of this goal achievement process! There are also a variety of apps on the market that take a similar calendar/chain approach. This is one.
3. Don’t Break the Chain Focus on maintaining your streak for as long as possible. The longer your chain becomes, the more commitment to your goal you will feel. This approach works for many people.
4. Don’t Give Up If you miss a day, it doesn’t mean all is lost. Start again and keep going.
5. Focus on Improvement, Not Perfection Striving for perfection can be quite discouraging; instead, aim to improve every day in every way.

I suggest you get started on that “red-X chain of success” today!

You will soon feel that dopamine is working for you, as opposed to against you. Try it, it works!

PS, my adult children gave me a 2025 calendar to track my personal health goals for the year! So far my chain has 23 links! Won’t you join me?

How will you live, love, or lead, differently, or better, this week?

Sincerely,

Bryan Yager

“Expanding Your Capacity for Success”

* Revised and updated, originally published on January 10, 2022.

** In doing research for this article, I was unable to confirm any connection to the immensely successful sit-com star. While an accreditation may be valid, it is possible the story of it being Seinfeld’s creation may be nothing more than an urban myth. Either way, it is a powerful concept.

Related MMM Articles:

• Click here to read: Make Habits; Not Resolutions
• Click here to read: What Habits are Shaping Your Life?
• Click here to read: What Habits are Compounding in Your Life?

Books by Ron Price:

• Growing Influence; a Story of How to Lead with Character, Expertise and Impact
• The Complete Leader ?

Books by Dr. Jeremy Graves

• Leading Across Generations
• Change Leadership; The Art of Moving from Resistance to Resilience
• Leader Paradox; Unexpected Path to Effective Leadership

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Bonus Quotes:

• “When you choose a habit, you also choose the results of that habit.” – Zig Ziglar
• “Tis easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.” – Benjamin Franklin ?
• “Habit, like gravity, never takes a day off.” – Paul Gibbons
• “Old habits are strong and jealous.” – Dorothea Brande
• “It seems, in fact, as though the second half of a man’s life is usually made up of nothing but the habits he has accumulated during the first half.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky
• “Habit is a cable. We weave a thread of it every day, and at last we cannot break it.” – Horace Mann
• “If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception; it is a prevailing attitude.” ― Colin Powell
• “You leave old habits behind by starting out with the thought, ‘I release the need for this in my life.” ― Wayne Dyer
• “I have learned that champions aren’t just born; champions can be made when they embrace and commit to life-changing positive habits.” ― Lewis Howes