The Unseen Piece of Success: Why Consistency Matters More Than You Think
The other day, I was listening to a podcast where a successful digital creator was recalling an exchange he had with an amateur in his field. "If I disappear and do nothing for the next 6 months and you consistently put in the work, in 6 months, you will be the veteran and I will be the amateur," he told him. His point was clear: the digital space is in a constant state of motion. To maintain relevance, you must persistently evolve, learn, and grow.
I want to argue that the same thing is true in almost all aspects of your life.
The only thing that remains constant, ironically, is the need for consistency.
There are few skills, if any, that remain static enough to be left dormant for an extended period of time without paying the price of regression. This isn't to propagate an ideology against taking breaks or to endorse the culture of burnout. On the contrary, consistency and sustainability are two sides of the same coin. They coexist; one cannot sustain without the other.
An essential aspect of consistency is the balance of effort. Striking the right chord between pushing oneself and avoiding burnout is a skill in itself. However, the essential idea here is that progress—be it in business, creative pursuits, or personal growth—deteriorates when left unattended. It doesn’t stagnate. No matter their magnitude, you cannot live off of past success or glory. You might argue that you can, in fact, when it comes to business or creative achievements, but I can guarantee you that adopting this mindset in your growth as an individual will mean betraying your potential.
Interestingly, the need for consistency is often mistakenly associated only with external rewards. It is a misconception that needs debunking.
Personal growth and inner work require as much, if not more, consistent effort as any business or skill enhancement pursuit. Consistency is the fuel that propels the vehicle of self-improvement. It is like having a strong and reliable crew member on your ship as you navigate the sea of life's never-ending transformations.
To embrace consistency is to understand that almost nothing in life remains static. Our lives, our selves, our world—it's all in constant motion and change. Therefore, if you are not making a conscious, consistent effort to move forward, it's as if you are moving backward. This is a harsh truth, especially given the enormous responsibility and the demand for constant effort. But it is a truth nonetheless.
In the grand scheme of things, consistency might appear as a silent, almost invisible player.
However, this unglamorous trait is the foundational piece of every success, the bedrock upon which achievements are built.
If there's one takeaway I want to leave you with, it's the same one I’ve been telling you for 3 years straight, and I will keep telling you as long as you are here to listen: Show up every day. It can, and will be, with minimal effort on some days. But what matters is that you show up.
Remember, you're not a static entity, but a being who is constantly evolving. And that evolution is fueled, shaped, and guided by your consistency.
You have what it takes to show up every day. Both you and I know that.
Thank you for reading.
P.S. There are couple of hours left to join my upcoming free course:
(Re)Build: Become the Architect of Your Own Life
(Re)Build is a blueprint for a fulfilling and meaningful life molded by insights from psychology's and philosophy's finest minds.
In (Re)Build, you will, among other things, have the opportunity to learn my full consistency method.
As you may (or may not) already know, I have written a book on consistency and have an ongoing consistency challenge in my Sisyphus Society. Both of those were built on my experience of learning the skill of consistency and showing up every single day for the things that matter in my life for over 6 years at this point.
Even though my ebook is a paid resource and the Sisyphus Society is a paid community, in (Re)Build you will get the same knowledge on consistency for free.
My mission with this free course is to give you the insights, actionable advice, and tools needed to turn a new page in your story and start building your life for the first time ever, or rebuilding it regardless of the circumstances.
The course starts on Monday, June 19th.
Click here to join. Once again, it’s free.
Free Resources:
My free ebook: The Lost Art of Reading
Paid Resources:
The Art of Showing Up: A Clear and Practical Method for Mastering Consistency
The Gold Pill: Timeless Ideas for a Life Worth Living
If you like my Existential Espresso writing, there is zero-cost support in the form of subscribing, liking this post, commenting if you have any thoughts on it, and of course sharing this with anyone who would find it interesting.
Or you can consider becoming a paid supporter of Existential Espresso for 5$ per month. By doing this you would be helping me to keep investing time into researching and writing all the content on the daily basis.
What you get by becoming a paid supporter is access to the members-only essays (such as “Why Having a Price on My Head Didn’t Upset Me”or “Why Living With a Bulletproof Vest is The Best Thing to Ever Happen to Me”), as well as an opportunity to recommend topics for future essays.
However, even taking the time out of your day to read what I have to share with you means more to me than you can imagine. Thank you.