Hashtag Don't Break the Chain

For those of you who watch Game Grumps religiously, or have heard the phrase before (because they weren't the ones who originally coined it, obviously), you may already know where I'm going with this from the title. I think it was during one of their more recent Pokemon: Fire Red episodes where they were talking about the concept of "not breaking the chain" and I started to think that maybe I should try it out. For those of you who don't know what "not breaking the chain" is, however, allow me to elaborate for you.

The concept of not breaking the chain is about building up confidence and dedication to something. It's not necessarily about creating a masterpiece every day, but more so about psychologically bolstering your confidence by practicing or working on something every day without skipping any days in between. Even if all you do in that day is draw something quick, or write one line of a story or one song lyric, you're still not breaking the chain. There will obviously be days you make a lot of progress towards whatever goal you set for yourself, and there will be days you make very little, but all that matters is that you keep working towards your goals every day. You'll feel like you're accomplishing more this way than you would if you took a day off.

Naturally, some days will feel like a grind. On those days, maybe take it easy on yourself and do something small. And you can certainly take a personal day if you think that's what's best for your overall goal. Taking the time to refresh yourself for the next day, depending on what rules you set for yourself, can count towards not breaking the chain. Perhaps even just putting thought into what you'll do tomorrow is worthwhile. It's really all up to you. Just don't do that every day.

The thing to really be wary of is skipping a day just because you don't feel like it, or skipping multiple days in a row under the assumption that you'll get back to it once you're rested. Obviously, if this happens a lot, perhaps "not breaking the chain" is not something you really want to do. Maybe the goal you set isn't one you really want to strive towards. That's fine. Perhaps you can change your goal to something you'd be more willing to work towards every day. Trying not to break the chain will show you where your priorities and aspirations lie.

Lately, I've been taking on more responsibilities as an artist than I had previously. Ever since I chose my concentration in computer science, I've neglected my artistic side, even though I've been an artist for much longer than I've been a programmer. A few weeks ago, when I first saw the episode of Game Grumps that I mentioned earlier, I decided that I wanted to try not breaking the chain, but I didn't know where to start. I knew that I wanted to do more art, and decided that I would be both an artist and a programmer for the new game I was working on with my team, but aside from working on the project I had no ideas of what to do artistically. Obviously there'd be days when I'd need to wear exclusively my programming hat, so breaking the chain seemed inevitable.

This past weekend, however, I got to see my muse in person once again, this time under the guise of my valentine. She brought with her a few gifts--mostly chocolate (because Valentine's Day), but also a book with lots of pages to draw and doodle on, as well as a prompt on each page telling me what to draw. This was it--the thing I was looking for! This would give me the direction I needed to be able to form a chain!

So far it's only been a few days, and one of my doodles is strikingly more elaborate than the others, but I've resolved to open up the book to a random page every day and doodle something in there. I've missed the practice I used to have all throughout grade school, when I used to draw in my notebooks during class, and I'm looking forward to seeing some improvement in my art skills over time.

With every day, I feel more and more inspired to better myself, and it's all thanks to the one who I lovingly refer to as "my muse". I can only hope to bring out the best in her, as she has undoubtedly done for me. I finally feel able to unlock all of my untapped potential, and be the successful person I always aspired to be, and it's a wonderful feeling, indeed.

For all of you reading this--try to find something to help you form a chain, as well. I hope you find that "not breaking the chain" helps you achieve the goals that you always set for yourself, but don't really know how to start working towards. Even if your prompt every day is asking someone to give you a random word (or getting a word from a random word generator), try giving yourself a daily task to help you slowly build towards whatever it is you want to see yourself become. I believe you can do it--just take it slow and you can be whatever you aspire to be some day!

Thanks again for reading, and I'll see you next time!

--J