Chain, Chain, Chain

My apologies to Aretha Franklin, but that's the tune that popped into my head.  In my day job at an evil big bank, I read and share numerous articles on leadership and career development.  I developed a passion for this topic while facilitating leadership development programs for six years in the 90's, and I continue to enjoy blogs and books on teamwork, leadership, trust, you name it.

Just a few weeks ago, I shared a blog I found in the Seeds of Success newsletter and received lots of  appreciative responses.  I'd say that the point of the blog, Don't Break the Chain, is that improving at anything requires hard work and consistent effort--whether it's something at work or in your personal life.

The author shared a story about Jerry Seinfeld giving career advice to a young comic about writing better jokes:  To be a better comic, you have to write better jokes and to do that, you have to write every day.

Sounds simple, right?  Perhaps not.  Doing anything every day, especially something you're not accustomed to doing or don't really want to do, can be hard. Seinfeld went on to explain the system he used for motivating himself to write, even when he didn't want to. He posted a conspicuous, visible wall calendar and drew a large X over each day when he wrote jokes.  Soon, he had a chain going and was loathe to break it.  The goal: Don't break the chain.

Darren Hardy, the author of the blog, suggested his readers choose one behavior or habit to create and try out the calendar system for themselves.  Naturally, I chose not one but two behaviors--writing in my journal every day AND following my 1200 calorie diet plan until I lost a few pounds.

I'm happy to report that my desk calendar sports a chain of bright purple X's representing my successful efforts to journal every day.  Unfortunately, my chain of red X's for following my diet plan has a few gaps in it.  Note to self:  Follow directions next time.