I just realized that I have a superpower
I have the ability to alter the future
all I have to do is to closely examine
and change my habits you also have this
power book maybe you haven't learned to
utilize it yet in order to use that
power we have to overcome the human
curse thinking that our thoughts define
who we are
our thoughts are just infinite
possibilities of who we could be the
thoughts we act on reflect our true
nature when our thoughts are aligned
with our actions we live in peace but
when there unaligned we live in chaos so
how can we move towards a more aligned
life by examining and taking control of
our habits enter Jerry Seinfeld don't
break the chain Technique the story goes
a young programmer by the name of Brad
Isaac was trying his hand at being a
stand-up comedian one fateful night Brad
ended up performing at the same venue as
the legend himself Jerry Seinfeld in
search of wisdom Brad asked the
legendary comic for advice on becoming a
better comedian
Jerry's advice don't break the chain the
don't break the chain method goes like
this
a person decides that they want to
improve their life they either want to
break a bad habit or cultivate a good
habit for example let's say the person
wants to write jokes every day in order
to become a better comedian that person
proceeded to take out a calendar for the
whole year they start performing the
daily habit of writing jokes
after completing the habit they draw a
big red X on the calendar over today's
date they repeat this the next day and
then again the next day until eventually
a small chain of red X's has been
developed as you may remember from my
how to build good study habits video
studies suggest that the median time to
build a habit is 66 days that means for
roughly the first two months it's
absolutely essential that the chain is
not broken the chain of red X's begins
to act as a psychological motivator and
propel the person towards accomplishing
your goal
it sounds simple that why does this
technique work I believe that there are
two key psychological pillars that
support this technique teller number one
is the release of dopamine every time
you complete our daily ritual and put
the big red X on our calendar we feel a
sense of accomplishment the result
dopamine the feel-good hormone is
released as you may already know our
brains are wired to repeat actions that
release dopamine it's a feedback loop
this is also the reason social media is
so addictive pillar number two is loss
aversion as the chain gets longer the
stakes associated with not doing the
habit rise we start to feel like we have
a lot more to lose we might say things
like I've already been doing this for 60
days in a row I don't want to stop now
one of the most influential economists
in the world Daniel Kahneman performed a
landmark study in which he demonstrated
the principle of loss aversion as stated
in the study changes that make things
worse losses loom larger than
improvements or games simply put our
desire to avoid losing $5 is greater
than our desire to gain $5 it's human
nature to avoid loss you may be
wondering why is that some people
believe that it's a hardwired behavior
passed down from our ancestors there are
more averse to loss because loss meant
death for example having less food than
was necessary resulted in death but
having a bounty of food made life more
comfortable the principle of loss
aversion also applies to the don't break
the chain technique once we have a few
red X's on the calendar are desired to
not lose our streak is greater than a
game we might get doing any other
activity we've already committed so much
time and effort into being consistent
with our habit we feel compelled not to
break it
so how can the don't break the chain
method we used to break bad habits on
the first day that you don't perform the
bad habit mark it off with a big red X
on your calendar build up a small chain
and try to keep it going
hopefully in 66 days your habit will be
broken just a side note studies show
that the time taken to develop a habit
falls between 18 and 254 days for
different individuals so don't be
discouraged if it takes a little longer
for you to make or break a habit so
maybe you're thinking I don't want to
use a big calendar no problem I can
recommend 3 apps to you to help you
this technique the first app is have it
occur I've recommended this app before
is one of my top 3 productivity apps for
students levitical allows users to keep
track of daily habits which the app
refers to as dailies every time you
complete a daily you can check it off
and keep track of your streak by looking
at the little arrows at the bottom right
corner of a habit the benefit of have it
occur or the con depending on how you
look at it is that it also functions as
a to-do list and an RPG game if you want
these extra features this app will be
perfect for you pathetic is also
available for free as a mobile app
desktop app and web app on both iOS and
Android the second app is momentum if
you can do without all the extra bells
and whistles you might want to check
this out it's a simple app that allows
users to tick off habits and keep track
of their chain it only tracks habits so
it's a lot simpler in design and use
than have it occur unfortunately it's
only available on iOS as far as I could
see and you're only allowed to keep
track of three habits at a time with the
free version the full version cost $6.99
and comes with benefits such as the
ability to enter an unlimited amount of
habits this should be free to be honest
a desktop app iCloud synching reminders
data exporting touch ID locking and the
ability to analyze trends personally I
didn't need all the extra benefits and
so I couldn't justify the cost the third
app is changed I used to use have Etica
but this is the app I've been
experimenting with lately it costs 279
and it's very simple in terms of design
and utility it allows users to color
code habits and assign habits to
specific days of the week for example I
can tell it that I only exercise on
Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays and so
will only build my chain on those days
after I insert a habit I simply open the
app on the day I perform the habit and
swipe right to market as complete I'm
sure all three apps will get the job
done just fine at the end of the day
it's all just personal preference don't
forget a big traditional calendar also
works
now that you know Seinfeld secret good
luck and make sure that you don't break
the chain
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