Jerry Seinfeld’s goal was to not break the chain. Years ago, the comedian set a goal to write a joke every single day. As the chain grew longer, it added motivational fuel to keep going. When Jerry didn’t feel like doing the hard work of writing comedy, he reminded himself not to break the chain.

When I was just getting started in radio, I helped write jokes for the morning guy at my station. It was hard. So is fitness. There are days when I didn’t feel like writing the jokes and there are days when I don’t feel like keeping the fitness promise I made to myself.

On those days, not breaking the chain gives me a little shove out the door.

To help you build your own fitness chain, I’ve created a helpful guide called Build Your 90 Day Fitness Chain, to get you started, Build.

WHY 90 DAYS?

I don’t know if Jerry Seinfeld made a lifelong promise to write those jokes every day, but I’m certainly not advocating you should make a promise that you can’t ever miss a day of fitness until you die. I believe the real goal should be reaching fitness momentum where your motivation is strong and building a fitness chain is a great way to get there.

But, first you need to establish a fitness habit. Research indicates it takes 66 days for a habit to stick so 90 days covers that amount of time and gets you on your way to a place of momentum.

You can always choose to keep going, but 90 days will give you the perspective of how powerful a fitness chain can be, how motivating it is on days when you need that, and a real sense of accomplishment.

MAKE A PROMISE

Its important to make a fitness promise that is not too hard and not too easy. If it’s too difficult, every day will feel like a grind and you likely won’t stick with it. Too easy and the chain won’t mean anything. Ideally, you should have 1-2 days a week when you feel the challenge.

Build Your 90 Day Fitness Chain will guide you through the three different types of promises you can make to yourself using walking as a fitness activity. It will also help you choose the fitness promise that’s best for you. 

One more thing…I call it a fitness promise instead of a fitness goal because it’s more personal. A goal is transactional and feels more easily dismissed when it gets challenging. A promise that feels personal is harder to break when you don’t feel like it.

KEEP TRACK 

Jerry Seinfeld kept track of his fitness chain with a wall calendar. As soon as he finished writing the joke he would put an X on the calendar for that date. Keeping track is powerful and motivating.

Build Your 90 Day Fitness Chain includes a printable one-page sheet that you allows you to track each day you keep your promise and add another link to your growing fitness chain. Also, placing the tracker where you can easily see it adds even more motivational file to your fitness fire.

By the way…if you want to keep going after 90 days, there is a second unnumbered tracker allowing you to go as long as you want!

GET STARTED

You can find Build Your 90 Day Fitness Chain today. It’s completely free.

“Today was a “don’t break the chain” day for me. I was up far too late for a 5:00 AM alarm and slept poorly so my back is stiff…and it’s cold and rainy. But I showed up. That chain is POWERFUL and it enables me to keep my promise to myself on days like today.” Angie

To help you keep your daily fitness promise, I also encourage you to check out the podcast, Walking is Fitness. It’s like having a walking buddy for a daily ten minute walk. There’s a new episode delivered before you wake up each morning that can give you even more motivation to start walking for fitness!