Goal Setting Tips From Jerry Seinfeld

The Seinfeld Productivity Calendar is a simple way to coax you into accomplishing your goals in a very primal, if not OCD, kind of way. It's named after its creator, Jerry Seinfeld, who is known for much bigger things. Jerry Seinfeld is not only a sophisticated actor/comedian, but he also has a very interesting way to get things done.

What You Need
You probably already have the materials needed in order to set up a Seinfeld Productivity Calendar. You'll need:

• A couple goals; 1-3 goals will make for a good start. These are things that require your time and attention every day. Go ahead and define what it is you need to do every day in order to accomplish these goals. For example, jogging a mile will take half an hour out of your day and a change of clothes.
• Keep in mind your goal's daily minimums; these are the minimum resources that you need to accomplish your daily goal, you will want to keep this simple. Give yourself some rules and boundaries for exceptions. For example, if you are dieting, give yourself a cheat day where you get a freebie, and come up with a way to make up for it when you couldn't accomplish your minimum due to situations outside your control.
• Use a calendar to track your goals. You can purchase a whiteboard calendar, but some people like to use paper since it is more bold and permanent. Plus, a whiteboard calendar only tracks a single month; your daily goals likely extend beyond a month.
• Buy the brightest, boldest, fattest marker you can find.

Don't Break the Chain
Once you have your goals, daily minimums, and marker, and your calendar is nailed to your wall, you are now ready to begin. All you have to do is track your progress and put a big fat X through the date on the calendar when you accomplish your daily goals.

Big whoop, right? It's pretty simple, almost too simple, how will this actually help? The Seinfeld Productivity Calendar will provide you with precious motivation. It's pretty easy to get yourself motivated when you start something new because your mind is fixated on it. However, when something takes longer to accomplish, it's easy to forget about the goal and just focus on how much of a hassle it is to work towards it.

The Seinfeld Calendar adds a very simple, visual report that makes you feel more accountable. Once you get a few days, or a couple weeks' worth of X's you will feel good about yourself and not want to break the chain. The longer you stay with it, the easier it will be to motivate yourself to keep the chain of success going. For example, you've done so well the past 14 days, let's not ruin your streak today. Marking a big X on your calendar will become a very satisfying and rewarding experience, similar to earning gold stars when you were a kid in elementary school.

The Seinfeld Calendar is a very basic productivity tool that can be easily customized to provide you with even more motivation. This calendar can also be a great tool to help motivate teams to achieve projects at work. Hang a giant calendar in the office and watch your staff rally around the X's.

Does the Seinfeld Calendar sound like a tool that will help motivate you to stay on task? Can you think of any other resources that you have successfully used to achieve your personal or corporate goals? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments!