Jerry Seinfeld once shared an extremely simple tip for writing every day:
A large calendar and a red pen.
Every day after writing, he marks an X.
The only goal:
Don’t let that chain of Xs break.
No need to be excellent.
No need for inspiration.
Just one X every day.
That small chain of Xs — repeated, quietly —
becomes his huge career.
But many people misunderstand this secret.
They think it's iron discipline.
It's willpower.
Not that way.
Willpower is like a phone battery.
There are always limits.
If you 'grit your teeth' every day,
forcing yourself to be perfect,
you’re rowing upstream.
Sooner or later, you will burn out.
A kind system is different.
It’s like sailing downstream.
You still have to adjust,
but don’t need to struggle every minute.
Sustainable consistency does not come from strong willpower,
but from a flexible and kind system.
What does kindness mean?
Is when you’re tired, the system still stands firm even if you take a day off.
Is when you lose rhythm, the system doesn’t judge, doesn’t blame,
but helps you get back easily.
Is when you wake up after a terrible day,
you don’t feel like you have to start all over again.
Flexibility does not mean weakness.
A tree survives after the storm,
not because it’s sturdy,
but because it is flexible enough to bend.
Losing motivation is not a failure.
It’s just a signal on the dashboard.
It tells you:
there’s something that needs to be checked again.
When you find yourself lazy, don’t rush to blame yourself.
Maybe the old system has expired.
Maybe you’ve forgotten the reason you started.
Maybe you’re doing the right thing — but the wrong way.
Motivation is not fuel.
It’s just a signal light.
Pause for a moment.
Review the map.
Adjust the direction.
Then continue the journey.
There’s nothing to be ashamed of when you need to take a break.
Successful people are not better at 'gritting their teeth' than you.
They are just better at building environments and systems:
Attach new habits to existing actions (habit stacking).
Create clear, easy-to-follow signals (e.g., open a notebook every time you sit down at a café).
Reduce friction (e.g., prepare workout gear the night before).
Have a soft feedback loop that helps you get back on track.
You don’t need to fight with yourself every day.
You just need an environment that makes the right thing easy to do.
From biology to philosophy,
everything points to one thing:
Live like a soft system.
Not like a rigid machine.
A sustainable living system always has the ability to recover.
It’s like a vine —
flexible, adaptable, knowing when to rest.
Not like a steel bar —
solid, but easy to break.
Lao Tzu said this a long time ago:
Go with the flow — instead of forcing.
Every natural system has a rhythm:
Work then rest.
Up and down.
Tense then relax.
You can’t always be in the ON mode.
But you can design a system to easily switch back on.
You don’t need extraordinary days.
You just need ordinary days —
continuous, uninterrupted.
One small X every day is enough.
No need for noise.
No need for exhaustion.
As long as you are present,
doing the right thing,
marking an X.
Then tomorrow, continue.
If you’ve read this far and feel a little lighter,
maybe you’re not lacking willpower.
You just need a better system.