How To Be the Most Consistent Person You Know

If you suck at being consistent...

“Because I'm a professional and I'm on a deadline.”

We just sat down with Jay Acunzo on the podcast.

He shares his take on consistency and I want you to hear it.

One of the easiest things to **ck up is consistency.

It’s so simple….just keep doing it the thing.

But for some reason, we stop.

Then we have to try to get back into momentum.

Then we stop again.

And each time that happens, we lose trust in ourselves.

It’s a downward cycle I know all too well.

Instead, I think we have to start with the foundation of why we’re doing the thing to begin with.

If you’re just sort of doing it for fun, you’ll likely not last.

If you’re a professional, you don’t have an option but to keep doing it.

“Turning pro is a mindset. If we are struggling with fear, self-sabotage, procrastination, self-doubt, etc., the problem is, we're thinking like amateurs. Amateurs don't show up. Amateurs crap out.” - Steven Pressfield (Turning Pro)

You’re a professional and you’re on a deadline

Enter Jay Acunzo:

It's not going to sound groundbreaking, but I do think it's profoundly missing, especially among people in the business world. When it comes to creating things, I'm always on a deadline, you know, think about maker monsters that grip a lot of people, perfectionism, imposter syndrome, writer's block.

To me, these are luxuries. I wish I had the time to entertain the fact that, I have writer's block, this needs to be perfect and who am I to do this work? I don't have time for that.

I'm on a deadline. So either those maker monsters are not welcome, cannot enter the fray, or if I am feeling any semblance of them, and look, I do once in a while, tough for them, I'm taking a chain, wrapping it around their waists, and I'm dragging them to my finish line because I'm a professional and I'm on a deadline.

So do you have a practice, which the entire goal of that practice is on the date you set for yourself. It's an obligation to you, maybe to an audience.

But that's secondary on the date you've set yourself, you hit publish. And that is the only objective not to grow followers, not to grow reach, not the drive of result.

If you have time to worry about the “Maker Monsters” as Jay calls them, then you’re not yet a professional. And that’s okay. You can turn pro, you just need to prove it to the universe by sticking to a deadline and hitting publish (whatever that means for you).

Let go of the outcomes and results, just ship it.

And then ship it again.

Even when no one cares.

And then keep shipping until the universe tells you otherwise (you’ll know).

I’m writing this post, not because I’m the most consistent person I know, I know a lot of really consistent people and I see the results they’ve gotten because of it.

I’ve always struggled with being consistent. I like to do new things and change course, and play around. I believe there is a place for that, but you must also have the things you’re consistent at. The thing that makes you a pro.

Jay gives himself one vanity project at a time.

This is a project that likely won’t make him money, but it’s a fun challenge that he wants to explore.

For example, a behind the scenes documentary of his newest podcast “How Stories Happen.”

But behind all that, he still ships his work like a pro, which allows him the freedom to play around and take a risk on the side.

This is how we maintain sustainability.

You Have a Momentum Problem

Enter Jay again:

Creating things consistently was no longer my problem. Like I'd solved the problem I had, which most of us start with. We think we have a brilliance problem. What am I going to write about? What if lots of people see it and hate it. How do I make this great?

But that's not your problem. You have a momentum problem, not a brilliance problem. So solve the problem you have.

So many of us are quick to write stuff off without actually giving it a try.

We think posting for a week (even a month) on social should produce results.

We thing podcasting for a year (even 3) should result in tons of listeners and sponsorship opportunities.

We think writing weekly will bring us fame and fortune like all the others we see killing it.

That’s not how this works and we need to forget about that BS and become pro.

The sweetest thing about all this is that there is no guarantee. There’s no reward waiting for you after doing it for a year. You have to figure it out.

So when things finally click for you, it will be that much sweeter, because you’ll know without a doubt, that you’re a pro.

In conclusion

• Don’t overcomplicate it - Have a deadline - stick to the deadline

• Fix your momentum problem - do it for a long time

• Don’t give yourself the time to worry about the maker monsters

• If they do show up, drag them to the finish line

• Be a professional

Keep nurturing your ideas, honing your craft, and shipping your work. Because amazing things happen on the other side of finished.

P.S. Jay’s episode will be coming out soon, subscribe here.