Jerry Seinfeld is one of the most successful comedians of all time. Voted one of the “Top 100 Comedians of All-Time” he has pioneered long-running sitcoms and received numerous industry awards – including the “Top TV Episode of All-Time.”
At the peak of his sitcom, Forbes magazine estimated that the show earned him $267 million dollars. It’s no exaggeration or embellishment to say Jerry Seinfeld stands out as one of the most accomplished comedians, writers, and actors of his generation, with remarkable achievements in terms of wealth, popularity, and critical acclaim.
Jerry’s success was no speedy ascent. It was slow and incremental. Thomas Ederson said, “life is too short to start at the small end of things.” He believed humanity should attack the hard problems, the ambitious projects, the audacious goals. Jerry did the opposite.
He started small but began working on something big.
He wrote one sentence, that became one paragraph, that turned into one joke that eventually became a stand-up comedy show. He went as far as he could see, and waited to see how far he could go. Every morning illuminated the next few steps of the path in front of him, it was enough for him to move forward consistently and make continual progress.
That was the secret to his success. Did he have a strong work ethic? Yes. A measure of natural ability? Sure. A wise head and a competent business acumen? Certainly.
Yet undergirding all these virtues is one word: consistency.
Consistency compounds. Most people are one year of consistency away from a completely different version of themselves.
Jerry Seinfeld was unbelievably consistent. Day-in-day-out, year after year, he sat at his desk and wrote episode after episode. Performed in show after show. Entertaining. Innovating. Creating. He started. He finished. He handled the script in front of him to the best of his ability. He did what he could, where he was, with what he had, there and then – again and again.
That’s it.
There was no other way round it. Deliberate action. Producing levels of consistency that even the most disciplined of people would desire to bring to their lives. This built momentum. Inspired confidence. And most of all, trained him for reigning as one of the most successful comedians of all time.
How did Jerry Seinfeld consistently produce world-class work daily for decades? How did he push past problems? How did he break down obstacles?
By focusing on what has commonly been called: The Seinfeld Strategy.
After a sold-out show, Jerry was hanging out backstage with some of his team and he heard a knock on the door. It was a young comedian, clutching a notepad and pen, waiting nervously to be acknowledged by the comedy king. Jerry warmly invited him in. The notepad and pen weren’t for Jerry’s autograph, it was for Jerry’s answers.
The young comedian asked: “How can I become a better comic? I’m learning the ropes and starting out!” Jerry smiled and said, “the way to be a better comedian is to create better jokes and the only way to create better jokes is to commit to writing every day.” He paused. Looked the aspiring comedian in the eyes and said, “Whatever you do, don’t break the chain.”
Jerry preceded to instruct the young comedian to buy a large wall calendar that covered the whole year on one page and to hang it somewhere he would see every single day. Then, he instructed him to get a big red magic marker, and each day he completed the task of writing a sketch, or crafting a story, to put a big X over the day. Jerry 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, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job is to not break the chain.”
Jerry Seinfeld was talking about showing up. The incredibly undervalued and overlooked power of clocking in day in and day out. Sitting down at your desk, making yourself available to catch an idea as you start fishing for thoughts. Jerry never missed a day, even when he was under the weather, exhausted, lacking sleep, or when enduring hardship and adversity.
The phenomenon that is the Jerry Seinfeld’s comedy show then, owe far more to his discipline than his talent, to the compounding power of consistency rather than sheer competency. It wasn’t about feelings, as much as it was about focus.
Seinfeld’s advice to the young comic didn’t consist of the importance of creating belly aching jokes or producing award winning sketches, what mattered was not breaking the chain.
Each day building upon the last. Opening the laptop. Picking up the pen. Writing the email. Responding to the call. Making the enquiry. Tying the laces. Chasing the client. Whatever it is; not breaking the chain creates discipline and makes sure you do something each day. That’s what’s important.
Can you show up and carry on…
… when you’re exhausted.
… When you don’t feel like it.
… When you have competing demands.
… When nobody sees.
… When nothing changes.
Once you lengthen the chain, you get a taste for it. You see progress. measurable results. Your self-respect increases. Your spirit strengthens. You grow and begin to trust yourself.
Do you want to stand out in a saturated market? This is how. Most people won’t do it. They won’t bet on themselves. They would rather recite excuses than resolve to be consistent. Jerry Seinfeld didn’t wait to feel his way into taking action, he acted his way into his feeling’s.
“Someone once asked author Somerset Maugham if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration. “I write only when inspiration strikes,” Somerset replied. “Fortunately, it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.” He doesn’t wait for inspiration to strike; he brings it about by showing up.
How does the mass majority meddling in mediocrity experience their personal growth journey? They start and stop. Work a day, miss a day. But what if you buckle down? Hit a groove. Find a rhythm. Gain traction. Let the rubber grip the road. Sink the lugs of your tires into the mud and really dig in. The opposite is spinning your wheels, sputtering, stuttering starts. The object is motion, that leads to movement that gains ground then takes territory.
Oscar winning screenplay writer Frederic Raphael, suggests a great definition of what consistent work looks like: “Work is when you have pages at the end of the day that you didn’t have at the beginning.”
What produces such pages?
Intensity? Audacity? No. Consistency.
You can summon it, create it, order, and invoke it. How? By showing up. Digging deep. Letting your heavy-duty, off-road tires sink into the dirt tracks of day-to-day living until you can feel them gripping something solid and stable.
Jerry Seinfeld might not be your favourite comedian. He might not have you in stitches. But what is funny, C.S. Lewis said, “is how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back everything is different.”
Most of us are just one year of consistency away from a completely different life.
I have found this to be true. I hope you do too.
