Why should you listen to me when it comes to consistency?
Or, first, why do I even want to write about consistency?
You probably know by now that I prefer more philosophical topics. I want to talk about death, love, suffering, courage, passion, and commitment.
So why do I want to write about something not so "philosophical," something much less glamorous, like consistency?
Both why you should listen to me when it comes to consistency and why I want to write about it can be answered in one sentence.
Because consistency saved my life.
But before that very personal reason, maybe I should start with one that has more to do with you.
Consistency is the reason you are reading this. Consistency is the reason you are trusting me with your time and attention.
If I didn’t sit down to write every single day for the past 3 years, no one would be trusting me with their time and attention on those philosophical topics like love, death, courage, and passion.
Okay, maybe some people still would. But it definitely wouldn’t be 4.3 million people, which is the number of those who read at least one piece of my writing in the last 90 days. (It still feels surreal to write those numbers.)
It is because I show up every single day, and I have been showing up every single day for 3 years straight, that you are reading this right now.
Now for the life-saving part.
In October 2021, I was informed by the police in my country that my life was in danger. That there is a group of people who plan on taking my life.
That wasn’t a surprise to me. At that point, it had already been 1.5 years since I became aware of that being a possibility and took the necessary precautions.
The only difference was that now it was official.
I decided to leave my home country and (re)start my life somewhere else.
I left so that I wouldn’t get killed or, even worse, start hating life.
What does consistency have to do with this?
When I was notified that my life was in danger and I made the decision to leave my country, I was working as an air traffic controller.
Due to the airport I was working at not being recognized as a major international airport, I wasn’t able to get a job as an air traffic controller anywhere else, regardless of my experience and qualifications.
The only other skill I could rely on to make a living was my 10+ years of experience and self-education in physical training and my license as a personal trainer.
To cut a long story short and spare you of unnecessary details, I lied to my friends and family that I had already been preparing to leave my job and had developed an online coaching business with a solid monthly income. The truth was, I only had 3 low-ticket online clients, and my monthly income from online coaching wasn’t enough to cover even the accommodation costs in one of the most affordable countries in the world.
So I left my home, my job, and basically my whole life behind. What I had was an almost nonexistent online coaching business, my savings, and money that a couple of friends gave me as a "push" in starting my new life.
How could I've done something so stupid, so reckless? Or maybe so brave, depending on how you look at it?
Moreover, how could someone who has been "the careful type," the "always choose the safe option type," and the "take no risks type" his whole life decide to do something like this? One aspect of my decision-making in this period of my life will be covered in my book on Jumping into Life, that is, on living instead of overthinking. But, once again, the foundation behind all of that was consistency.
I lied to my family and friends and was able to go to the other side of the world without any evidence of my ability to sustain myself through online income because I was confident.
I wasn’t confident in my marketing and sales skills. I wasn’t confident in my knowledge of growing on social media and monetizing my page.
The only thing in which I was confident was my ability to show up every single day for the things that I need to do. And I mean every single day, no matter what.
I was aware that this ability on its own wouldn’t guarantee any kind of material success. But I knew that a person who is able to show up every single day most probably won’t have to sleep on the street and certainly won’t starve to death. And I was right.
So if you thought this was going to be a story about how consistency made my online business explode and that I am now sipping pina coladas on the beach while money is just pouring into my account, this is not that type of story. And, honestly, I would be surprised if you expected that kind of story from me.
Consistency didn’t make me rich.
It only saved my life.
But even if you are into that type of stories, consistency is something you will need if you want to create your own story of that type.
Why do I believe that you should still consider listening to me when it comes to consistency, no matter how different your life situation or your goals are?
Because it doesn’t really matter what’s your starting point and where do you want to end up. You still have to show up every day.
And that’s what consistency is. It’s the ability to show up every single day. To show up for the things that you need to do or want to do long-term but often feel like you cannot do on a daily basis.
So no matter how different the details of our individual journeys are, if we want to reach our destinations, the structure will look the same for the instagram-philosopher with a price on his head, the aspiring musician, the mom on a weight-loss journey, and the online entrepreneur. And that structure is consistency.
Why you absolutely can show up every single day
Now that you have at least some context for my life situation before leaving my home country, let me say this.
In the last three years of my life, the number of days where I had perfect, or even near-perfect, conditions to do the things that I wanted and needed to do was around 5%.
However, I still showed up every single day. With different intensity and volume. But I showed up.
None of this is to say that I am special in any way. It is to say that, no matter your internal and external conditions, you, who are reading this, can show up every single day. With different intensity and/or volume, depending on the things that you need to show up for. But you can still show up.
It is important to note that when I talk about conditions, I’m talking about both internal and external conditions. Both about your mood, motivation and energy, as well as your daily schedule, surroundings, or any other external world limitations.
I believe that there is no single human being who has a life where, 100% of the time, their internal and external conditions are perfect for them to execute on the things that they want.
However, I also believe that the average number of "perfect" days for most of you reading this is higher than 5%. I hope it is.
If it’s above 5% for you, imagine what you could accomplish, considering that consistency is not a talent but a skill. Imagine what kind of work you would be able to put in towards the things you want if you developed the skill of consistency.
And if you feel like your percentage of "perfect" days is even lower than 5%, that’s fine. The news is equally good for you. Being limited to that extent by your internal or external conditions probably made you think that you would never be able to dedicate yourself to the things that you wanted and needed to do. But I am here to tell you that you, too, can show up every single day.
(This is a part of what will be an introduction or a Chapter 1 of the book I am writing on Consistency. As promised in this Monday’s Existential Espresso, I will create in public and try to engage you in the process by sharing parts of the book as I write it. After all, you are the reason why I gained enough confidence to start writing this book, and you chose the topic. I hope you will enjoy at least parts of it, if not the whole thing.)
Thank you for reading.
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