Todayās Idea
Motivation is fickle. Some days itās there, most days itās not.
What lasts longer is momentum. The simplest way to build it is through streaks.
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The Power of Streaks
Jerry Seinfeld once shared the secret to his writing habit:
It wasnāt waiting for inspiration. It wasnāt grinding out ten pages a day.
It was a wall calendar.
Each day he wrote a joke, he marked a big red āX.ā
Soon, the chain grew. Day after day, another X.
His only rule was: donāt break the chain.
The brilliance isnāt in the calendar. Itās in the psychology.
Streaks shift the focus from output (āwrite the best jokeā) to process (āwrite something todayā). The red X is a small win, but together those wins create momentum.
Behavioral science backs this up. BJ Fogg at Stanford showed that small, consistent actions are more powerful than grand gestures.
James Clear popularized the same idea in Atomic Habits: habits compound, and streaks make the compounding visible.
We think big wins come from bursts of effort. But itās often the streaks (the ordinary days stacked together) that create extraordinary outcomes.
How You Can Apply This
Pick one keystone action. Write one sentence. Do one push-up. Send one outreach email. Donāt start with scaleāstart with consistency.
Track it visibly. Calendar, app, sticky notes. The streak has to be seen. That visibility turns discipline into a game.
Lower the bar. The goal is to keep the streak alive, not to be perfect. Seinfeld didnāt write a masterpiece dailyāhe just wrote.
Protect the streak. Traveling? Busy? Do a āminimum version.ā One minute counts, as long as the chain stays unbroken.
Leverage momentum. Once the streak exists, use it to power harder work. Momentum makes heavier lifts feel lighter.
What To Remember
Until next time,
ā Quiet Moves