The Ugly Truth About Consistency

the one tweak that keeps me from quitting

I felt a little down about writing this one. Maybe it’s because it’s a new month, or maybe I am doubting whether I can keep up with this public commitment.

Enter the thoughts in my head:

I started to write because I wanted to express my thoughts more clearly to myself and then write publicly to challenge myself in getting these thoughts out there, whilst conquering my social media anxiety. I have been doing that for a short while now. I enjoy it, but sometimes I wonder if I can sustain it. 

These are the thoughts that come to mind when I am feeling down and battling with writer’s block. Also, these sorts of thoughts appear when I feel lazy, when I want to procrastinate on a task that I can easily do on a whim but lack the cojones to challenge myself.

As I have written in the past, when I get into this zone, I either touch grass or perhaps dive into reading fiction. When I choose the latter, it takes my mind away and views this problem not for what it is, but now as a challenge. As I get immersed in a story, I get the feeling of being involved in the plot, which makes me hungry for more action. It excites me and gets me back into the groove I initially sought.

I am not saying this works every time for me, but occasionally I have been able to overcome that mental block this way. 

Another factor in all this is planning, defining your mission, setting daily goals and following them to the letter. Ben Settle would advise in one of his Villains book series to pick one thing, set out a time to work on it daily (either first thing in the morning or last thing in the night) for 21 days. He takes it further by saying anytime you miss a day, you restart completely, until you achieve a 21-day streak. 

It’s all about building consistency and mastery through repetition

In terms of achievement, whenever I win over these foregoing thoughts, I tend to pat myself on the back. I remind myself that the real work is just getting started. In other words, I usually get into the flow when I start scribing, or get in the rhythm, pushing through a few reps on my workout. It is always refreshing when I complete these little wins because it reminds me of the power of getting things done and the real impact it can have on a person or maybe on someone’s day.

Where am I going with this?

There are times we set our plans about things, and they fall short, and there is always a convenient reason (excuse) not to crack on. The reason for that is not you. It’s in the goals. 

Your goals are not clear enough. 

The clear and simple way to fix it is to break your goal into manageable pieces - one step at a time. Avoid the trap of vague goal setting or following some generic ways that work for someone random on the internet.  That way, you can tailor your goal around your personality to determine how you want to achieve that. Then the specific problem you want to solve - maybe the new skills you want to learn, or anything you want to achieve. Whichever way, it has to be unique to you for it to stick. In that way, it becomes interesting for you not to avoid or run away from, just like not skipping meals for the sake of it.

Accountability is everything here!

There are many ways to skin a cat when it comes to making things work; however, you have to start somewhere and test if a strategy will be viable and sustainable before committing fully.

Only you, not anybody, can determine that for you.

Earlier, I committed to writing these letters and sharing them publicly, and I am genuinely enjoying the process. If this resonates with you, or if you think I’m talking complete B.S, let me know in the comments or by replying to the letter.

Until next time,

Somtoo

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