7th August, 2022
Because it is one of the keys to success. Or at least, this is what others said about consistency.
From my own point of view, I see consistency as one of the most important ingredients if you want to
build something, launch it and work on it.
It’s easy to create a viral video. It’s easy to write viral articles. But it’s hard to keep every video
you make a viral one, it’s really hard to be consistent with your articles every time.
I’m not a very disciplined guy but I sometimes found myself working on different projects for weeks,
months and even years.
That’s how I see how important consistency is.
In a world where we need discipline and auto control so we can focus on the things that matter for us, consistency is something that can help us get through all of this noise.
But if you want to have a really scheduled habit, you need to be disciplined about it. And this
discipline does not allow you to get off track.
For example, if you want to start a blog and you want to write weekly long-form articles you have to be
disciplined with yourself. Create a working system that enables you to stay focus, research new ideas,
write the outline, complete the article, optimize and edit and then publish it. And the next week you
have to do the same.
It won’t be easy. But nothing that requires discipline, autocontrol and a lot of work is easy.
And at the end of the day (or in your case, after 6 months of publishing weekly content) you will get
the results.
Showing up every time you promise to will give you a higher level of trust in yourself but also the audience will trust you. And this is something I believe we all need – to have a higher level of trust.
Building that special project you are working on every day will give you a level of trust and it will also make you feel good about what you are working towards.
Consistency is not about the results or the finish line. Consistency is about the progress you make every
time you build that special project.
You can go back and see how you’ve done 2 weeks ago, 3 weeks ago or yesterday. It’s not about the
results, it’s about the progress and the process. Analyzing your improvement can help you adjust your
speed, have an overview of the resource you have and keep a clean and accurate strategy.
Tracking your improvement will help you build your self-confidence which will make you
feel comfortable to set new goals.
Do you want to stand out in the crowd? Be consistent. Do you want to get noticed? Be consistent. Show up
every time, show up every day.
Create something it’s worth sharing and talking about.
Not everything you put out there will be a viral content. Not everything you will create and publish
will get you the eyeballs you want and will make people follow you. But Showing up every day
will make people trust you and maintain their attention. Because these small and simple
actions carried out repeatedly will be the amount to big results over time.
The consistent work will get you on the track where you can find great ideas for your projects. Working consistently will make you stay away from the creativity block.
If you want to write more you don’t have to just stay in front of your computer and start typing. You
have to develop your research muscle (read more) and write down new ideas (create more) and connect
these ideas (being creative).
I believe that consistent work will create a state that that connects you with new ideas, new
inspiration and new ways of creating.
When done right, consistency cultivates creativity.
With hard work.
That’s it. That’s all you need to know as an answer for this question. It’s just pure hard work.
You can’t buy consistency. You can’t make someone to make you be more consistent with your work.
If you want something, you work for it.
If you want to lose weight, you work for it.
If you want to write a book, you write every day.
If you want to be a professional photographer, you learn about photography, read about photography and
start shooting.
But if you don’t know where to start, here are a few personal suggestions I can share with you from my
own point of view. These are my personal ideas, personal suggestions because I experienced them and I
can say it worked well for me.
You have your life and you are the only one who knows what works for you. That’s why you should create
your own working system. If you are a morning person, then work from this perspective. If you are a
night owl, then work from this perspective. It doesn’t matter.
You are the only one who knows how to create a great work system for you so you can be consistent with
what you want to achieve.
For example, I learned during these latest years that my best creative moments are early in the morning.
That’s why I wake up at 6 o’clock in the morning, drink my coffee, and start creating – write for my
blog, edit an Instagram Carousel, write other stuff, or just creating – whatever needs to be done. It’s
the best moment of the entire day. That’s before I start my morning meetings, my daily schedule for
Creatopy. After that, I have my lunch and then move to the second part of the day – when I don’t have
the energy to create, so I put the work in the research and connect the ideas part.
But this works for me very well. This working system helped me write hundreds of articles, create tens
of slides and carousels, work on different content strategies and just manage my entire projects.
When is the best time for you to do the work? When is the best time for you to do research? When is the
best time for you to have meetings or to connect with other people? When is the best time for you to
collect new ideas?
You are the only one who knows how to create a personal work system.
These boundaries will help you be consistent with your work. These boundaries will help you achieve your
goal and help keep you distant from whatever can change your focus from the work you want to be
done.
For example, if you want to go to the gym and not getting distracted from all your social media
notifications then don’t bring the phone with you. Write down on a paper all your exercises you want to
do and put in your pocket. Focus on your work-out. Don’t worry about the time you spend in the gym, I
bet they have somewhere a watch that can tell you how much you worked-out.
Setting boundaries is another reason why I wake up early in the morning. Because no one can distract me.
Because there is no activity on social media and nobody calls me that early.
Another thing that helped me set some boundaries was my iPad. For example when I want to write an
article, I start working on my iPad. I open my Google docs and my Notion where all my ideas are and just
start typing.
Some boundaries you can set to be more consistent:
Plan and build small habits that you can do in your own routine.
Start with small steps and don’t be too drastic with the changes you are inserting in your
lifestyle.
These small steps can help you achieve your goal, if you are consistent with them.
Because if you don’t take it seriously, you won’t see the results in days.
Creating a realistic plan to stay on track will help you measure your progress.
That’s why you need to have a plan with your own habit.
If I want to write an article for my blog I will plan before that day one or 2 hours early in the
morning to work on that blog.
But even before I start working on that specific article I already have some ideas, some plan and some
outline that I can use to start working with.
Planning is not something you have to pile in your calendar. Planning is when you know when to work and
when to take a break.
Be intentional with your habit.
Be intentional with your work.
Be intentional with your breaks.
Don’t beat yourself up just because you have some goal to achieve.
I always loved the idea to document my work. That’s how I learned a lot of stuff, that’s how I connected
with a few extraordinary people and it also made me vulnerable in front of my community by showing them
that I don’t have all the answers.
And to be honest with you, this strategy is not something I came up with. It’s something I first heard
of from Gary Vaynerchuk and since then I embrace it and use it almost every time in my content
strategy.
There are 2 ways to document your consistency: progress and process.
What’s the difference:
Let’s say that you set your goal on a project. After that you create a plan to get to that specific goal. And after that you start writing down the steps you have to take to get to that specific goal, following a plan. And these steps are your daily habit you have to take just to get to that specific goal.
But what if I’m telling you that no matter how good your plan is, no matter how big your goal is, if you don’t improve your habit you won’t succeed.
You have to improve your habit and change it from a routine into a practice.
What’s the difference between routine and practice?
Routine is when you wake up in the morning and go to your favourite gym, make the same exercises and get back home.
Practice is when you wake up in the morning and you start doing exercises wherever you are. Even if it’s a lockdown and you can’t go to your favourite gym. Even if you are in another city and you have to do those exercises.
As Ryan Holiday said “The difference between practice and routine is in the flexibility”
Don’t be a foul when you plan your habit and you stick to it even if it’s not working. Don’t be foolish if that plan is not working.
Improve your habit.
One of my favourite routines is to write early in the morning. Since I have 2 kids (one toddler and one 3 months old baby) I have to be flexible with this routine. Even if I woke up early in the morning, make my coffee and sit down at the table, excited to do some writing, there are moments when my wife brings me the 3 months old baby in my room and asks me if I can stay with him, because she had a rough night. I can’t say no. Because my family is more important than my daily routine. So I take care of him, change his clothes, play with him and if he falls asleep I can get back to my writing.
I learned to be more flexible with my routine. I learned to improve my habit.
If my habit was a daily 2 hours writing, now I have a 30 or 40 minutes writing. But guess what? I’m preparing for that writing before I even start writing. How?
By writing down the outlines, writing down the sources and just helping me to start writing when I have the amount of time.