Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2013; the Forbes earnings figures for Seinfeld, $267 million in 1998 and about $85 million a year since, are as of 2013.
In Spain, comedian Jerry Seinfeld may not be very well known, but he is considered one of the best comedians, writers and actors of all time. According to Forbes, Seinfeld earned $267 million in 1998 and has kept up a pace of $85 million a year in an increasingly crowded and competitive industry.
Even so, for Seinfeld what matters most is not the final prize (the earnings or the money) but the special moments, a passion for what he does and a remarkable consistency. He is someone who always keeps his feet on the ground and, so far, has never stopped being steady in his work.
The writer James Clear, in his latest book, Transform Your Habits, bases his work on advice he received from Seinfeld. As we’re about to see, that advice makes a lot of sense, because it’s plain that applying it is part of success.
For Seinfeld, most people want to create something, but they don’t fight to do it. They want to exercise, but can’t find the motivation and use lack of time as an excuse. They want to reach their goals, but for one reason or another we always put them off until later. So what strategy does Seinfeld recommend to beat procrastination (one of the biggest enemies of success)?
The secrets of productivity lie in the output and consistency of what we do. When Seinfeld gives advice to a comedian, he usually tells them that the way to become a great comic and come up with better jokes than everyone else is to write every day.
To use the Seinfeld strategy, all you need is a big calendar and a marker.
Every day that you write, mark that day on the calendar with a red X. Your only goal is to build a chain on that calendar. Every day, the chain of crosses will grow. Success consists solely of never breaking that chain.
Notice that Seinfeld doesn’t talk about results, only about daily work. It doesn’t matter whether you’re motivated or not. It doesn’t matter if next week’s outlook turns ugly. It’s all about not breaking the chain.
Applying Seinfeld’s advice to your career or business
This strategy is used in the world of sales. Every salesperson has a sales ratio: if we make 8 visits and close 2 sales, the ratio is 1 sale for every 4 visits. In other words, our job isn’t to chase a sale, but to make as many visits as possible, and that way the sales come on their own. The secret in sales is to focus not on the result but on doing the work well, because if we put all our mind and effort into working well, the results arrive sooner or later.
See also: 15 habits of successful salespeople
It’s a way of not getting discouraged, since the ratios aren’t exact. So if one day we don’t get the results we expected, we carry on with our chain and focus on the next day’s X.
If you’re a manager at a company, one strategy is to set yourself a target for fieldwork, for example: “Every week I’m going to call or visit 2 big potential clients, even if it’s just to have a coffee with them.”
Applied to business, this strategy channels our focus directly into our individual actions, and with consistency and persistence the change in results arrives sooner or later.
Even people who want to write a book could lose heart if they do the maths in advance and conclude that it might take them more than 8 months to finish it. Don’t think about the final goal; think about writing 5 or 10 pages every day. Your only job and goal would be to write each day, and that way the book will get written.
For Seinfeld, the problem with most people who want to do something is that they think excellence or mastery requires an enormous effort, when really all it takes is dedication in small portions. Mastery and excellence come with consistency, as long as you never break the chain.
Further reading
