Seinfeld's Law - Weight Loss Minimalist
Welcome to the 164th consecutive edition of the newsletter.
I’m trying something a little different today. Rather than write about five ideas, I am going to write about one and keep it short, and hopefully memorable.
Enjoy.
In 1998 Jerry Seinfeld was offered $110 million to make another season of Seinfeld, but he said no. When Howard Stern asked him why, Seinfeld said…
I could not go to that point where it (the show) starts to age and wither — and it doesn’t take long. For example, you go see a comedian and at an hour and ten minutes you love the guy. At an hour and thirty, it’s like “Eh! I thought he was never going to finish.” You walk out with a whole different feeling. It’s a small amount of “too much” and it changes the whole feeling.”
What Seinfeld is talking about is the art of knowing when enough is enough.
Seinfeld left $110 million dollars on the table because he felt the risk of doing another season and possibly blowing the love affair the audience had with the show wasn’t worth the reward.
His behaviour is extraordinary when you consider what he walked away from.
To honour this incredible display, I have turned it into a law that will provide tremendous value to me and hopefully for you, as we navigate the rest of our life.
Seinfeld’s Law → It only takes a little amount of “too much” to turn something great into something godawful. I found this interesting graphic on popular comedy shows.
Only 6 went out at the top of their game. Many stayed way past their prime.
It goes to show you just how counter-intuitive and remarkable Seinfeld’s decision was.
Knowing when enough is enough is difficult to navigate and most people fail at it.
The sports world is another place where we see Seinfeld’s Law at play.
On October 7th, 2023, the Miami Hurricane’s had a 3 point lead over Georgia Tech with 30 seconds to play. All they needed to do was have the quarterback take a knee to run out the clock and win the game.
But the Miami coach decided to run one more play. They fumbled the ball and Georgia Tech pulled off a miraculous win with no time left on the clock.
That one extra play was the little amount of too much that turned a sure win into a devastating loss.
If nothing else I hope you walk away knowing we are hardwired to take things a step too far.
It’s a skill we never had to learn because we evolved from a place where everything was scarce for millions of year. It’s only been in the last 75 years or so that we are now required to learn how to deal with abundance.
So the next time you are tempted to push things too far — with your eating, your relationships or your spending for example — I want you to think about the Seinfeld Law and remember that it only takes a small amount of “too much” to turn a good thing into a disaster.
That’s it for today. 🙏 Thanks for reading.
Keep being awesome my friend.
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