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👋Hello friends,

Welcome to The Strive Journal, a roundup of 1 - 5 cool things I found and learned this week.

Today I feel like sharing a few great tips I heard from Jerry Seinfeld in an interview he did with Tim Ferriss recently. Seinfeld's a fascinating character and I love his perspective on art, comedy, and life.

Of course, you know him from his hit 90s sitcom show Seinfeld, his web series and Netflix show Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, and his stand-up career which began in 1976 and is still going strong. Safe to say he knows a thing or two about productive output and converting passions into super successes.

Here are some great lessons I've taken from him.

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Let's begin.

1) Seinfeld on mastery

📅 If you're at all interested in mastering a craft, do it every day,

Seinfeld writes every day.

He sets a timer each day for the writing session. Sometimes it's short (15 minutes) sometimes it's long (4 - 6 hours) but he believes it vital to commit to your craft every single day no matter what.

His only rules are:

Never start a session without an endpoint. You can go past the endpoint but have no obligation to once the time has been reached.
During the session, you can't do anything else. Seinfeld sits and writes. If he doesn't feel inspired to, then he just sits. He never reaches for his phone or leaves the desk until the session is over.

2) Seinfeld on the brain

🦮 "Treat the brain like a dog you just got. It's a stupid little infant and you need to train it. It's easy. A mind is a wondrous tool that can be used to innovate industries, write lyrics, operate societies, and change the world. The brain is a dope. Don't confuse the brain with the mind. The brain can be trained easily with restrictions and systems."

And when it comes to exercise and keeping the dog happy, always remember, "a tired dog is a happy dog."

3) Seinfeld on developing a joke

🔨 He develops jokes by rinsing and washing thoughts, obsessing over prose, and systemizing creativity.

Seinfeld writes daily to come up with seeds of jokes.

When he discovers a good one, he writes it on a legal pad and reviews it every time he gets a chance. He reiterates over and over until he gets it perfect and it sounds nice to his ears... Until he can't wait to tell someone.

Then he takes it to a stage where the audience provides a ton of new feedback so he is able to re-iterate more and more. Each new audience provides new feedback. He continues this process of stage, feedback, and reiteration until the joke is crafted perfectly.

4) More Seinfeld musings

🧠
"Pain is knowledge rushing in to fill a void with great speed."

If you don't face the truth and realize the laws of nature and growth then the knowledge eventually will rush in and make you suffer.

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"If I could trade in any experiences from my past, the last ones I would trade in are the worst failures. They are the most valuable to me."

Whatever history of experiences has shaped you, whether it be out of love or hate and frustration. You have to find a way to convert that emotion into positive fuel for your goals and vision in life.

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"Transcendental meditation - It's the greatest tool for a productive life. Especially for concentration fatigue."

Seinfeld does it at least twice per day.