Consistency is like reading a book, people notice when you start, they notice when you finish, but they rarely acknowledge it when you’re in the middle.
When you start a new passion project, try picking up a new skill, or start a business, it’s super exciting. You tell your friends, family, and anyone who will listen. Everyone shares their joy with you and voices their encouragement.
Down the line, you succeed at what you intended to accomplish. You gain a following, become fluent in a language, or you’re able to support yourself with your business that fills you with joy. People congratulate you, wonder how you did it, and wish they could do the same.
Wait… what happened in between the beginning and final product? How did you achieve this so quickly? Where was I when you were doing all this??
You know what everyone seemed to disregard and apparently failed to notice? Your consistent effort. No one saw you writing every single day. No one witnessed all the ideas you came up with, tried, failed, succeeded in incorporating. Nobody paid attention to your slow growth – the weeks where you gained one or no followers.
They didn’t notice because that stuff isn’t exciting. The excitement comes when you start and when you finish, not when you’re in the middle. Consistency and doing the same thing over and over again is only interesting to the person performing the task.
Just like when you start a book and everyone asks why you picked it, starting anything new comes with attention, questions, and well wishes. Similarly to when you finish the book and everyone asks how it was or what you learned, reaching a noticeable level of success puts more eyes and attention on you.
The opinions and views of others don’t matter. What matters is your ability to continue reading every chapter until you finish the book.
Stay consistent whether everyone is watching or no one is. Perform at least one task every single day and don’t stop until you’ve reached your goal. You may not have anyone watching right now, but soon enough everyone will be watching and listening.
June 6, 2022
