“I put my mind on it, then I put my grind on it…”
–Offset from Migos
I’m writing this article on one of those off-days. I had been extremely busy because it is a festive time of the year (Chinese New Year, year of the Dog), I worked in the evening, and just got a work-out in. Also, I’m a little bit sleep deprived because I was working on my websites all last night, and finished a few courses on Wealthy Affiliate.
This is why I feel like it’s even more important that I don’t take today off and I get this article written before I call it a day.
This article won’t be keyword-rich or even directly related to my niche, but I just needed to hear the keyboard click, and know that I’m producing at least some content.
The last few months, I’ve been making consistency a practice in my life. I’m seeing it as a skill in itself. I’m tired as hell right now, so the strategic content is going out the window, and I’m just writing to practice consistency. I’m practicing writing everyday.
Consistency is the ability to do something in a regular, predictable way for a extended amount of time.
If you can, imagine your life situation, like your feelings, your mood, your spouse, job and all those variables as an ocean that is unpredictable, sometimes calm, sometimes stormy, and you are a oil rig in the middle of it, immovable and fulfilling your purpose.
This article is about being consistent, and 3 reasons why I feel like it’s important.
1. The Pareto Principle
If you are unfamiliar with the Pareto principle, or as it’s sometimes called “the 80/20 rule”, it is a cause-and-effect distribution pattern that is observed in many areas of life.
For example, 80% of the wealth is controlled by 20% of people.
80% of the land in Italy is controlled by 20% of the people.
80% of the work done at your company is by 20% of the people.
It is a very interesting pattern, and it is difficult to explain why it happens, but if you take the time to observe it, you’ll see that it is true.
So, applying the Pareto principle to productivity, means 80% of all your productive work comes from 20% of your time. That means if you spend two hours a day working on your websites, you will only be truly productive for 24 minutes.
Reflect about that for a second and you’ll realize that it’s true. Although there are exceptions, when we are working on a project we spend time brainstorming or just sitting there with writers-block. Sometimes we even glance at social media and reply to text messages. The dog comes over and we pet him for 5 minutes.
Simply put, a lot of the time we say we are “working” we are just intending to work. And that’s perfectly fine, but we must also realize that and be honest with ourselves.
This emphasizes consistency because we are truly not as productive as we think we are.
For me, this created a sense of urgency. I realized that my time was not as valuable as I had previously thought it was.
Just because I worked for 3 hours today does not mean I can take tomorrow off because that 3 hours was really just 36 minutes.
It is important to take breaks once in a while, and I’m not saying we should all start becoming workaholics. But we must also consider how much time spent working is necessary to produce results, and it’s often more than we think because of how much of it is actually productive.
2. Motivation
“Do the thing, and you’ll have the power”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
Results take a long time to come.
I remember when I was trying to gain muscle mass, I spent about 5 weeks eating a surplus and lifting heavy before I even gained a few pounds.
I didn’t give up though, because I had faith in the practice. I did my research and I knew that I was going on the right path. I was motivated, and even when I didn’t feel like working out, I knew that I could motivate myself just by showing up at the gym and doing what I knew would get me the results.
I was motivated by my actions.
To really feel like a blogger/marketer, we must take action like one. Whatever that may be. Research, content production, reading, writing, and networking.
It is a trap to think we will feel like writing once we start to see success, and wait until that happens to truly put in the work.
Most of the time, the action will have to come before the feeling.
The only way we can truly become what we want to become is to consistently take action towards that goal. I personally feel like a phony if I miss a day of work, and it creeps into my confidence and my overall mood. It is amazing how much it affects the spirit to not do things we know we must do.
If we don’t master the skill of consistency, it can easily lead into a downward spiral. Missing one day makes it much easier to miss the second day, and so on.
3. Compound effect
I’m sure you’ve heard of the doubling of the penny story. A penny doubled everyday for 30 days becomes more than a million dollars. It is a common story used to teach the power of compounding.
This compound effect can work for you, or against you.
Without mastering the skill of consistency, there is a higher chance of the latter happening.
Good habits done consistently will garner great results, but bad habits (like missing a work out) done consistently will mean never reaching your true potential.
There is a sense of peace to knowing that we are doing what is necessary, or more than necessary, everyday to achieve our dreams.
By being consistent in our massive actions, we can know for sure that we have the compound effect on our side, and in due time, we will reap the results.
Personally, this has been a huge reason for me to be consistent. I just want to sleep better at night!
Let me know how you’re being more consistent in the comments below!