Streaks and Chains
Leadership expert John C. Maxwell said, “You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” What settled routines do you have? I’m talking about nearly daily customs that would be hard to give up. What good habits have you established in your life?
I believe in good habits. I have some good habits.
- For over 20 years, I have had morning coffee with my wife
- For over 10 years, I have eaten blueberries for breakfast
- For over 5 years, I have kept a daily gratitude list
- I read every day
- I journal every day
I could come up with a similar list of bad habits, because, habits work the other way as well. But that’s another discussion. Let’s keep this positive!
When you learn about accomplished people in certain fields, inevitably, rituals and habits have been established. For example, the most famous comedian alive today is arguably Jerry Seinfeld. He writes material everyday. His technique can be applied to almost any line of work.
He has a wall calendar, with a whole year on the one page. Each day that he writes, he takes a red marker, and puts a big X over it. Then he simply grows the chain of Xs. His goal is to not break the chain.
The old adage is, “Inch by inch, anything’s a cinch.” Small moves still move you. It is easy to imagine, “Mile by mile, will really make me smile!” The problem is it is hard to work up consistent motivation for a mile. And it’s consistency that you want.
I thought about this Seinfeld calendar after hearing about the feature on the YouVersion Bible app called Streaks. The purpose is to build a habit of daily reading. Streaks show you how many days in a row you’ve opened the app, right at the top of your home feed.
You may be thinking of some other habit. What consistent, small action would you like to establish? Start it—today! Earn your red X. I believe what Maxwell says about life change requiring daily change. What daily habit would change your life?
Bonus: If you google Seinfeld chain you will pull up many other related articles. Check out this handy-dandy free app, too, available for phone, pad, and watch.
Founder of Six Figure Cleaner Mastermind | The community for those looking to grow their commercial cleaning business from six figures of revenue to six figures of profit in a business they can take vacations from.
6 年Chad, I stumbled across this article b/c we have a mutual connection. I just posted on social media about my YouVersion streak reaching 100 days... then I missed the next day! I felt a slight devastation. It was my goal to read the verse of the day every day this year. That said, I started a new streak and will just have to readjust my goal to having two streaks this year that add up to being a whole year... minus one day :) Great article, and spot on about streaks. I felt the pressure of that mounting number and it served as a reminder to keep plodding in the right direction. Quick question... based on your bio statement, have you read the book "Launching a Leadership Revolution"? Or did you come up with your term from a different stimulus?