How long would it take you to write twenty monolog jokes for The Tonight Show?

For some of you the answer might be, “Maybe a day.” For others, it might be, “A million years.”

I used to be able to do it in roughly 30 minutes.

And these are real jokes, for the real Tonight Show.

It was back in the Jay Leno days, when I was producing my own comedy TV show in Seattle. Jay was a friend of the show, and he invited me to submit monolog jokes (which he paid for, of course) to The Tonight Show. I’d get to work early, read the papers, and write jokes, which I’d then fax (yes, fax) to Jay.

At first, it was slow going. It would take me an hour or more, even though I already knew how to write a joke (remember, I was producing a comedy show). But after a few weeks of writing twenty jokes every day, it got to the point where I could write the jokes more or less simultaneously with reading the articles. It was almost like taking dictation.

Now, I’m not telling you this to brag (except for the part of me that’s telling you this to brag). I’m telling you this to make a point: that what you do every day is what you will get good at. What you do every day beats what you do once in awhile.

You want to be more creative, more innovative? Then do something creative, something innovative—even a little, tiny thing—EVERY DAY.

What you do every day is what moves the needle.

So…what are you going to do today?