On Consistency

Consistency has a bad rap. That's because it's conflated with stagnation or a "fixed" mindset.

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Consistency on the things that matter, the habits that accrue, yet still open to potential changes, is one things.

Consistency (or constancy) on a fixed perspective or point of view, on the other hand, can lead to closed mindedness.

Imagine you need to get from where you are today to some destination. Going from point A to point B needs two things: movement towards point B and a map of how to get there.

Without consistent, at a minimum, daily movement, it will be very hard to get there. And the consistency is just the work itself. It's heading in the right direction. It's making incremental improvements. It's showing up and doing the work even when you don't feel like it.

Some things do need consistency. The best forms of consistency are things that are easy enough to become habitual, but stack into something meaningful.

Meaningful for sure differs from person to person, but I'd like you to consider some areas.

The best, of course, are daily habits; but making things weekly can certainly work. Anything beyond this is likely to fall by the wayside (but not guaranteed to, as I'll write about as well).

What are some areas to be consistent in?

The challenge with consistency in anything that takes effort is that it's easy to be distracted, to change one's mind, and pursue the next shiny thing.

This is okay, it's normal, and actually being too closed minded or rigid can be hurtful. After all, I also want you to be curious On Curiosity.

Writing online daily (as well as privately daily) is a practice, an action, that one can and should be consistent in. This alone will give you great discipline. When I was younger, I kept a journal, but was not consistent, and this lack of consistency definitely hurt me.

The content, topics, perhaps even format may change, and it should.

But writing online, everyday, will help you to increase the surface area of connecting with people On Connections. In fact, by the time you are old enough, I imagine some form of online writing will be required, not in an enforced way, but in the way you just exist in the world. Your existence, presence, credibility On Credibility will matter by this online presence.

But I also remember reading about how private writing On Confidentiality, writing that you know no one will ever read, is also helpful.

Now that I am older, I try to do both.

But there are other things to be consistent upon.

Any craft On Craft needs consistency. This could change; but ideally you explore and hit upon a few things that you want to understand and explore and eventually commit to On Commitment.

Back to the Map.

If the Map were always changing, completely inconsistent from day to day, you'd also never get to where you are going.

But, often times, the path to get to your destination is unclear. In fact, the details of the destination itself may be unclear.

This will mean you need flexibility to adjust.

In this regard, being entirely consistent in the map would not be wise.

What have I found useful in becoming more and more consistent?

  1. Keep things small

The smaller, simpler, more compact On Concision and On Compression this "thing" is, the better.

I am trying to write privately for 15 minutes, and I have a fixed set of prompts that I want to get through. In fact, I often write on the same topic, same questions, with the same words on many days because I'm trying to be consistent in my overall thinking.

I am also writing essays like this and try to do so as quickly as I can, within 15-30 minutes every day.

  1. Schedule a time

Write down, I am experimenting with writing when I come home from the gym.

I wake up at 5:30 in the morning to get to the gym (another item I want to be consistent in); and I'm shrinking the time. In fact, just today, I told you mother I want to leave right at the hour, 7AM, so I have to move fast and finish within 1 hour.

  1. Think foundations

I know that writing to you is important; this is giving me direction and purpose. I know the other writing is to myself, to straighten out my own thinking. Other things like skills and connections are also foundational.

These consistencies may also become more specific to a project. I am building a mobile app, I need to be consistent -- till it's done.

What is one thing you can commit On Commitment to being consistent on today?