"Don't Break the Chain": My 2025 Writing Promise
There's a common narrative about leadership that's always bothered me: the idea that great leaders simply need to rally everyone around a shared vision, ensuring perfect alignment while dismissing any distraction from the chosen path. It's a neat theory, but it reminds me too much of an annual tradition in my home country, where the so-called 'leaders' may have many traits, but true leadership isn’t one of them.
Still every Nowruz, our supposed "leader" records a message and assigns a slogan to the coming year. These phrases are always grandiose and hollow: "National Solidarity and Public Participation," "Innovation and Prosperity," or my personal favourite (for its perfect irony): "Accountability." Yeah, right!
Recently, as I contemplated dedicating my energy to consistency in 2025, the mean little gremlin in my head—let's call her Dolores after Umbridge1 herself—started her usual mockery. "This will be just as empty as those annual slogans. How many times have you decided to do this and never followed through?" she whispered.
But this time, I've decided to tell Dolores to shut up.
I'm writing this promise down because I need to prove to myself that I can give this goal a real shot. I refuse to let Dolores's nasty comments shame me into inaction just because there's a chance of failure.
Consistency—or rather, its absence—has always been my greatest challenge with personal goals. At work, I'm a well-oiled machine: give me tasks, and I'll not only complete them but improve the process along the way. The problem isn't that I don't know how to be consistent; it's that I struggle to be consistent with my personal goals. That's where I choke.
This year, I've finally accepted that the biggest obstacle between me and becoming a consistent writer is [drumroll] me. I don't show up, and I don't have a structured plan. My writing depends entirely on emotional highs—whether I'm inspired, angry, or caught in some passionate wave.
Years ago, a writer friend gave me advice I've never forgotten: "You have to find a way to write when you're not sad, angry, or excited. You need to commit, even when you don't feel like it—that's how you'll succeed."
Over the years, I've been a sponge for productivity wisdom. I have read most of the popular books on the subject, watched YouTube videos, and listened to podcasts—all of which have transformed my professional life. But my job isn't writing (yet), and I've never applied these lessons to my personal creative goals, or if I have tried, didn’t really put in the effort.
In 2025, that changes. I'm taking a structured approach, inspired by a strategy widely known as Jerry Seinfeld's "Don't Break the Chain".
In an interview with Lifehacker, Brad Isaac, a young comedian who met Seinfeld backstage at a club talks about how he asked Seinfeld if he had “any tips for a young comic.”
Seinfeld told him that the key to being a better comic was creating better jokes, and the way to create better jokes was to write every day. He recommended getting a wall calendar that showed the entire year on one page and hanging it somewhere he could see every day, and with a big red magic marker, marking an X over each day he completed his writing.
"After a few days you'll have a chain," Seinfeld said. "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."
While this story popularized the method, Seinfeld later clarified in a Reddit thread that he neither created the approach nor claimed to use it himself. At first, I felt disheartened hearing this—Jerry Seinfeld is one of my favourite comedians, and this scene in Jerry Before Seinfeld is etched into my memory.
So I’ve decided not to take his denial on Reddit too seriously. If you’ve ever seen one of his interviews, you know how he responds to questions—often with a touch of irony or humor. I choose to believe he’s the one inspiring me to overcome this lifelong obstacle of mine. Call it wishful thinking, with a dash of fangirling.
Substack will be my accountability partner on this road. My (ambitious) goal is to publish twice weekly—Mondays and Thursdays— for a whole year and see if this consistency can help me make real progress. Like, tangible progress. You can subscribe to my newsletter using the button at the bottom of the page and be a part of this journey with me.
Today, I came across a quote from Tom Brady that struck a chord:
The truth is, you don't have to be special. You just have to be what most people aren't: consistent, determined, and willing to work for it.
Easier said than done... but “here's to the ones who dream.”2
2 La La Land - The Fools Who Dream