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The Index Card Trick for Mastering Any Skill
AKA the X-effect
I’m 32 days in and I have a pretty good success rate.
This trick is something I’ve heard called DBTC (don’t break the chain) or the Seinfeld Rule (which isn’t actually attributable to Jerry Seinfeld).
This tool/trick/idea can help you establish or eliminate any habit you want — but you must commit to doing it daily. Not just weekdays, not just when you feel like it. Once you make the card, you are locked in.
Before I tell you why it works, let’s get what you came here for, how do do it.
- Take a 3x5 index card and a pen and (the fattest) sharpie you can find, red or black.
- Make a 7x7 grid on the card. Don’t worry about even spacing or straightness. The uglier it is, the more authentic it looks. Pre-printed templates are awful for this, I don’t know why, they just are. Note: to make a 7x7 grid, you need to make 6 lines going horizontal and 6 going vertical.
- Now you have a grid of 49 spaces. Number them, 1–49 in pen. In order.
- That’s it! You have your grid. Now write your habit on the back (i.e. “I will not bite my nails” or “I will wake up by 6am”)
- It’s also really helpful to add a Why area under the commitment. This way, you can read it when you need to remember why you chose this in the first place.
I don’t recommend doing a bunch of these simultaneously. As you can see, I’m doing 2 right now, but I didn’t start with 2 originally. I would select 1 that you can do for 49 days that will help you get momentum to get rolling on the next one.
What happens if I miss a day and break my streak?
This can and will happen. As you can see, one of my cards is perfect and one has a few misses. You need to keep going. Each day is a chance to try again. Do not throw in the towel. You already made the card, you committed. If you wrote your Why on the back, give that a read and let it sink in. Visualize what it looks like when you’ve added or removed this habit. How will you feel? How will you look?
