It’s the final countdown… The last days of 2008. Time to say “good-bye” to a year that has been difficult for so many of us and to start thinking about the “R” word: resolutions. For most of us, New Year’s resolutions are about getting rid of bad habits and ushering in better ones. Whatever your health and fitness resolutions are for 2009, why is it that so many of us tend to quit before the month of January is even over?

Many would argue that defining what we would like to change about our health and fitness routine is the easy part. Keeping up with our resolution(s) and staying motivated on a daily basis proves much more difficult. So as we approach the big day, comedian Jerry Seinfeld (yup, that’s right, Jerry Seinfeld) has a suggestion on how to stay motivated and committed to your health and fitness resolutions for 2009, one day at a time.

According to motivational blogger Brad Isaac [1], who interviewed Jerry Seinfeld when he was first starting out, Jerry knew that to be a good comedian he would need to sit down and write new material everyday — no matter what. In order to do this and to stay motivated, Seinfeld created a system called “Don’t Break The Chain.” Taking a big wall calendar, he gave himself a big X for each day that he accomplished his goal of writing new material. After a few days he had a chain of consecutive X’s. Once he visually saw the chain of X's, he didn’t want to break it by not writing that day. By not breaking the chain and accomplishing his goal each day, he was earning self-esteem, which fueled him to keep going. Each of the days that he wrote, without breaking the chain, has helped bring him to where he is today.

We all know that we don’t wake up at the weight we want and that in order to complete a 5K race, we first need to be able to run a mile. It is slow and steady hard work that helps us change over time. This New Year think about a health or fitness action that you think would make a profound change in your life. Get a wall calendar and for each day that you accomplish your goal, give yourself that X you worked so hard to earn. Compete with yourself to be your “best self.” Prove to yourself, by not breaking the chain on the calendar, that you can and will do what you say you are going to do when it comes to your health and fitness goals for 2009. 

For more information on “Don’t Break the Chain” and Brad Isaac’s interview with Jerry Seinfeld, visit Lifehacker.com, a website for people looking for ways to” get things done.”