It is about time normal people learn how to propel their business ideas to the moon.
Why do some people seemingly fail all the time while others have continued success? What are those people doing to generate momentum? How does an idea catch fire and take off? I’ve identified one reason, and you’re not going to like it.
Consistency.
I've been on a personal journey as of late. I've listened to audiobooks, podcasts, interviews and noticed a common thread in each story. This one major factor that sets successful people apart from the rest.
These people show discipline. They diligently work on their craft and consistently put out products. If you’re working for the right reasons, then give your projects their due. You have to remember your why. You have to keep your goals in mind. Your determination and motivation are necessary, but your consistency sets you apart. Consistency and productivity are 80% of the battle. And it is a battle.
Didn't your parents say, "If it were easy, everyone would do it."
I saw a meme floating around FB land, which made me laugh. To paraphrase and reinterpret: “You all have filet mignon dreams, but have hot dog work ethic.
I've been gone a while from the writing scene. I write when the motivation hits me, but I will never go away. When I get put on to some new game, so will you!
I’m sure you feel the same about specific endeavors. You don’t produce as much as you could. You don't even work as often as you could. Please do not mistake that as a sign of personal weakness. It is a sign of system weakness. Don’t overestimate the significance. We are multifaceted people and strive for success in some areas, while we’re working to maintain in other areas.
But we can’t do it all, all of the time.
While I've taken a significant break from writing, I've been focusing on becoming a better husband. I've concentrated on leaving work stress at work. We've made time for date nights. And I'm still working on chores
I've spent a lot of time becoming a better doctor by improving my bedside manner and expanding my knowledge base. I've done a lot of thinking about communication and remaining open at the bedside. I've also gotten back to learning through exercises, questions, and articles.
All that is happening while organizing future business endeavors, trying to get pregnant, and building a house.
Again, we can’t do it all, all the time. But we can move at the speed of opportunity.
Let this be your reminder just because people don't see you working does not mean you're not working. Your priorities are yours alone. Moreover, your hard work won’t always produce the results you want. Detach yourself from the results and focus on the process—set productivity goals, not results goals. Learn the next lesson, expand your network, promote yourself as promised.
The way you succeed in life is to keep working. One week you’ll work on one aspect of your business while simply maintaining in other ways. As long as you keep working, keep learning, and keep growing, then you will eventually succeed.
All of the small decisions you make on a daily basis will compound. Brandon Burchard talks about this in his book High Performance Habits. James Clear’s whole book Atomic Habits, is about this topic. Podcasters built Earn your Leisure and Dead Ass podcasts on these principles.
You work and work until your product reaches that tipping point when things take off. This is a well-known occurrence in the age of social media and content creation. Many of these content creators post videos and blogs for years before finding their niche and going viral. Instant success exists, but that type of success also fades when the consistency does.
Think about your success like making a fire from scratch. You've seen fire in nature, but you have no idea what goes into making it. As you work, you notice that fire is more likely when the trees are dying; the underbrush is dry and brittle. There's very little moisture in the air. Maybe it hadn't rained for several days or weeks.
You've seen lightning create fire, but you don't hold lightning. So you start to go to work on making a fire from scratch. You try all sorts of things to create fire, but it takes patience, consistency, and constant reinvention.
Then one day, your process works. If you only create fire once, you’re not a fire maker, but if you can consistently produce fire to keep yourself warm, cook food, and ward off predators, you are a fire maker. Along the way, don't get upset that you don't have a fire. Concentrate on the process of making the fire. The fire will come with preparation, consistent effort, and when conditions are right.
Here are your doctor’s orders.
Practice discipline by showing consistency in your work efforts. Focus on the work, not the outcome.
Don’t judge yourself if you fail. Firstly, you always fail if you don’t try. Secondly, every trial is a failure until you succeed. Recover, reinvent, revolutionize.
Once you get a spark, you’ve got to feed it fuel and oxygen. Only your prior practices will teach you how much and how often. Get in the game, get consistent, and catch fire!
