How One Hour A Day Made Jerry Seinfeld Very Wealthy

By almost any measure, Jerry Seinfeld is one of the most successful comedians and writers of all time.

According to Forbes magazine, Seinfeld reached his peak in earnings when he made $267 million dollars in 1998. (Yes, in one year.) 10 years later, in 2008, Seinfeld was still pulling in a cool $85 million per year. [1]

So how did he generate such great success and consistently knock it out of the park for so many years?

Just ask Brad Isaac.

Brad Isaac was an upcoming comedian. He was a software developer by day but his dream was to be a comic.

Anyway, one fateful night many years ago he was back stage when he ran into the great man himself. Not wanting to let a golden opportunity slip through his hands he asked Seinfeld what made him so successful [2]

Jerry’s advice was simple. “The way to be a great comedian is to write better jokes and the way to write better jokes is to write every day”. [3]

But the big nugget was in a calendar system he uses to pressure himself to write every day. Here’s how it works.

Seinfeld said he has a big wall calendar with a whole year on one page and hangs it on a prominent wall. [4]

The next step is to get a big red magic marker and for each day he completed his task of writing, he put a big red X over that day. [5]

Seinfeld said, “After a few days you’ll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll like seeing that chain grow, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Therefore, your ultimate goal is to not break the chain.” [6]

To make sure Isaac got it, he said it again, “Don’t break the chain”.

Of course, there will be some who say, “its ok for Seinfeld, he’s a comedian”.

But consider this, how many comedian’s do you think have failed and fallen away? I reckon a pile big enough to cast a shadow over the tallest pyramids.

But just like the rest of them, Seinfeld started off with nothing other than a willing mind and a pen and paper.

But most of all, it was his daily consistency and holding himself to a very high standard that eventually yielded amazing results for him. He knew the money, awards, etc would follow if he maintained the consistency. He never worried about the end result.

You can apply the ‘Seinfeld Strategy’ to any area of your life, it doesn’t have to be finances. It doesn’t have to be one hour a day either, it could be just thirty minutes.

I started doing this at the beginning of the year. I have one daily task for the business plus a personal one. I also keep a record in a separate diary just to track my experiences.

The trick is to choose one thing which is meaningful enough to make a difference but simple enough to get done. The compound effect is amazing.

Lots of little ripples eventually become one big torrent.

What will be your chain? Maybe you could partner up with someone and do something together. Start a chain gang.

Have a great weekend.

Adam

Back paddock – How’s this for manners. Last Saturday morning I was at one of my favourite cafes reading the papers when a very well-known identity in Australian rugby came in and sat at the table next to meet with his daughter. (I’m guessing she was 14-15 yoa).

Anyway, it was at least three minutes after his breaky arrived before his daughter returned to the table and he just sat there waiting patiently. He didn’t start eating until she sat down. I also noticed there were no phones on the table either.

 

Moowsletter Sources:
[1] https://www.google.com.au/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=forbes%20magazine%20jerry%20sienfeld

[2,3,4,5,6] http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-secret