Carson ruled the late-night airwaves for thirty years. He was the most important Kingmaker in American culture. If you were invited to do a 5-minute set on The Tonight Show, and Johnny liked you, your career was set.

In 1981, Seinfeld was scheduled for his first appearance on the show. A few years later, he reflected on the experience when he sat for an interview with Larry Wilde, a comedian and author.

Larry asked, “How did you prepare for that?”

Seinfeld deadpanned, “Rigorously.” Then he continued, “Every comedian knows that his first appearance on the Tonight Show is his Olympics, his World Series, and his Superbowl all rolled into one. This is his chance to become an A player, the A team.”

Then, Seinfeld went on to explain that as soon as he constructed his 5-minute set of material, he practiced it relentlessly. In the weeks before his Tonight Show appearance, he would go from club to club, performing it. He would do it up to five or six times a night. Seinfeld said that he probably rehearsed that single 5-minute set two hundred times during that period to make sure it was perfect. It was an opportunity he was not going to blow.

And in fact, he made the most of that appearance because Seinfeld became one of the most famous comedians in America, even before the enormous success of the Seinfeld TV show.

All because he saw an opportunity he was not going to waste. He put in the reps, he did the work, and it paid off in spades.

Question: When you consider the success you want to achieve and the opportunities you want as a writer, how many reps are you willing to do in order to be the best?

Note: If you’d like to listen to Larry Wilde’s full interview with Jerry Seinfeld, you can do so by listening to the album “Jerry Seinfeld on Comedy.”

The post Jerry Seinfeld’s 200-Round Practice Routine appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

Years before he was known as the star of the beloved sitcom Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld was a successful stand-up comedian. For comedians of his era in the 1970s and 1980s, the golden key to success was appearing on The Tonight Show, hosted by Johnny Carson.

Carson ruled the late-night airwaves for thirty years. He was the most important Kingmaker in American culture. If you were invited to do a 5-minute set on The Tonight Show, and Johnny liked you, your career was set.

In 1981, Seinfeld was scheduled for his first appearance on the show. A few years later, he reflected on the experience when he sat for an interview with Larry Wilde, a comedian and author.

Larry asked, “How did you prepare for that?”

Seinfeld deadpanned, “Rigorously.” Then he continued, “Every comedian knows that his first appearance on the Tonight Show is his Olympics, his World Series, and his Superbowl all rolled into one. This is his chance to become an A player, the A team.”

Then, Seinfeld went on to explain that as soon as he constructed his 5-minute set of material, he practiced in relentlessly. In the weeks before his Tonight Show appearance, he would go from club to club, performing it. He would do it up to five or six times a night. Seinfeld said that he probably rehearsed that single 5-minute set two hundred times during that period to make sure it was perfect. It was an opportunity he was not going to blow.

And, in fact, he made the most of that appearance because Seinfeld became one of the most famous comedians in America, even before the enormous success of the Seinfeld TV show.

All because he saw an opportunity he was not going to waste. He put in the reps, he did the work, and it paid off in spades.

Daily Question: When you consider the success you want to achieve and the opportunities you want as a writer, how many reps are you willing to do in order to be the best?

Note: If you’d like to listen to Larry Wilde’s full interview with Jerry Seinfeld, you can do so by listening to the album, “Jerry Seinfeld on Comedy.”

The post Jerry Seinfeld’s 200-Round Practice Routine appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

One of the most famous episodes of Seinfeld is “The Contest.” In this episode, Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer compete to see who can demonstrate self-control the longest. The one who wins will be known as “master of their domain.”  

What are they refraining from? Well, you’ll just have to watch the episode for yourself… 

The concept of self-mastery is an important one for writers. We spend a lot of our time obsessing over external obstacles, such as frustrations with technology, agents or publishers not giving us a shot, not having enough time to write, interruptions from people, and a million other things. 

But those are all beside the point. If we don’t master ourselves, nothing else matters. Success in writing really just comes down to arranging your life to make writing and publishing a priority. At the end of the day, it’s nothing more and nothing less.  

For thousands of years, the greatest minds from all religions, cultures, and walks of life have emphasized the need for self-mastery. The great artist Leonardo da Vinci said, “One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.” 

While attempting to spend all of our time worrying about forces that fight to control us from the outside, we will get much further if we focus on mastering what’s on the inside. 

The post Are You Master of Your Domain? appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.