Before long, I realized something about the proverbial "they say..." thing. Most of the time now, when we talk about what "they", we're really talking about things we've seen on the internet. That's just what it's become in the modern era. If you're someone who's online every day, that's where you experience the overwhelming majority of random communication. Sure, there are still people who use the internet sparingly, and maybe one day I'll be one of them. But for now, this is the environment we're all drowning in.
And in that environment, there is no shortage of advice and tips and "self help". Every day it's another suggestion about how to live your life, how to make better decisions, what behaviors are healthy, what habits are productive, what mindsets lead to success. Humanity has been handing out advice since the dawn of civilization because we're all trying to figure out the best way to manage ourselves every damn day.
One particular piece of advice stands out because it's both the most frustrating to hear and, at the same time, probably the most accurate: consistency beats explosiveness.
There are countless ways to phrase that idea, but they all point to the same thing. Reliability, consistency, and repeatability are qualities that don't get celebrated nearly as much as they should. Well, not in real time I should say.
If someone tells you a couple has been married for 67 years and is about to celebrate their 68th anniversary, everyone admires that. We celebrate nearly 7 decades of consistency through good times and bad. That's easy to appreciate because the story is already finished. We celebrate consistency retroactively.
What we rarely celebrate is consistency while it's still unfolding.
There's a good reason for that. Consistency doesn't announce itself at the beginning.
If you've gone to the gym twice, you're not consistent yet. You're simply at the beginning of what might become consistency. Even two weeks into a new habit, depending on the goal and the perspective, may not really qualify. Whether something is "consistent" depends entirely on the timeline you're viewing it from.
I think that's why this concept is so difficult for us to embrace. Human beings struggle to believe in something before there's enough evidence to prove it. We naturally wonder whether a new effort will last or whether it's just another short burst of motivation that will ultimately fizzle and die.
And this applies to so much more than the gym. It's about continuing behaviors that benefit you, even when the results aren't instantly obvious. It's about showing up again tomorrow, and the day after that, even when today didn't go well, even when next Thursday is a piece of shit, even when 3 Tuesdays from now you barely did it.
In fact, I'll take it a step further.
If you repeatedly fail at something that you continue trying to do anyway, that deserves to be celebrated too.
Seriously.
Yes, you're failing. But you're still trying.
That's more admirable than simply showing up somewhere because you're expected to.
When you're up against the odds, when life is beating the shit out of you, when maybe you're even battling your own bad habits, but you refuse to quit, there's something deeply meaningful about that. Even if nobody else notices, you should be able to pat yourself on the back and say, "I'm not giving up."
Because that fucking matters.
External recognition is nice, but ultimately this has to come from within. You have to become someone who values their own persistence before anyone else ever will.
Think about sports for a second. Let's say a basketball team beats another team 138-72. That's an absurd blowout, especially if both teams are supposed to be pro level. People would talk about that game for years. How did that happen? What went wrong? What went right? It would become legendary.
But imagine that same team finishes the season with only 10 wins.
That incredible game didn't define the season. It was just one explosive moment surrounded by inconsistency.
Explosive moments are exciting. They make headlines. Consistency is what actually gets you somewhere.
That's why this advice is so annoying. It's persistently, pun intended, and consistently true.
If you want to accomplish almost anything meaningful, consistency is the key. Not consistent success. Consistent effort.
That's the difference that makes a difference.
It's also the part that's hardest to accept. Hell, it's difficult for me to accept even as I write this. But if you've failed 29 times in a row and you still show up for attempt number 30, that isn't just another failure. That's an effort worth acknowledging. That's a form of reliability toward yourself that deserves respect.
One unbelievable workout followed by 3 months of doing nothing won't change your life. Showing up 3 times a week for 3 years likely will.
I could come up with examples all day, but they all point to the same conclusion. The most irritating piece of advice is also one of the truest.
Be consistent. Be reliable.
Most importantly, be those things for yourself.