A Tale of Consistency
Starting something comes with a rush of adrenaline and excitement but you know the hard part is sticking to it even when those feelings fizzle out. I know the process to get me to where I want, I know it’s important but it gets boring sometimes. Being consistent takes a LOT and it’s not a joke. How does one continue even when we don’t feel like it? Let’s explore that in today’s read. Welcome to this read, Techie.
Let’s look on the bright side, if you’ve been with us since we started publishing our reads, that’s consistency. But why? To be honest, I struggle with consistency, but I believe I found a hack that works for me and might help you too. I love practical examples so let’s start with why I started ME.
Getting jobs as a newbie was draining and taking courses almost every week was even more draining. Not knowing who to talk to or how to go about things kinda led me to step up and be who I wish I had. It started with baby steps on Linkedin, showing up even when I didn’t get the engagement I desired, sending connection requests with no hope of them ever responding and all. My “aha moment” was really when I started grading and rewarding myself. And here’s how I did it.
I created a schedule of what I wanted to see and do for the month. At that time I planned to show up consistently for 30 days on LinkedIn and get the necessary skills needed to be a Junior Data Analyst. If I don’t get engagement, that’s fine as long as I hit my goal of showing up consistently, I gave myself a perfect score. The moment I worried less about how I wanted people to react to my moves, I got crazy results. From 0 to over 20k impressions, over 1k followers, better engagements and we started shaping who we intended to be. But how is this linked to consistency? I showed up for 30 days straight and aligned that time period to actions. Sounds a bit complex? Or maybe it seems too easy? Maybe we should break it down even further.
When I started showing up here on Medium, I tried writing 4 articles per month but it wasn’t working for me. It was a struggle. I gave deadlines and aligned them with my time but if your brain thinks of the task as hard, you almost will never get it done. So, I limited it to one read per month and it has been bliss. I enjoy writing and I enjoy consistently getting my reads to your screen. What does this mean? Consistency is hard when you think of it as hard.
Maybe it’s time for a mindset shift. Get quantity out of the question and focus more on quality and you enjoy getting the task done. Now, if you’re a newbie and you plan to build your brand equity, I’d advise you to start with a platform, enjoy it, show up, and thrive before moving to another. It can get overwhelming juggling 10 balls at a start and you need to enjoy the process. Repeat after me “I will enjoy my process”. Because no one will enjoy it for you. Your growth is fun and you have every right to have fun as you grow.
Not to make this read too long, I’ll end on this note, make your tasks easy if you want consistency to come easy. It’s a mindset thing. And have fun while you’re at it. Also, thank you for sticking with me for this long. This isn’t our official last read of the year but a sneak peek (it’s going to be all mushy and emotional). Till we meet again, I’m sending warm hugs your way because you are amazing!
