The 1 Reason Why You Can’t Be Consistent
You’re stuck in a never-ending cycle of inconsistency.
It feels like a curse because you can’t stay committed to your goals.
Every day, you decide this is the day you will commit. And yes, you do commit for one week. But the next week, you quit.
You think through different ways to stick to your goals. But nothing works.
You’re simply inconsistent.
I’ve been there.
I’ve been labelled an unstable person by my friends.
My subscribers receive one post from me in one month and it’s silent in Email land for the next one to two months.
Tim Ferriss said ‘a person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have’.
Last month, I had an uncomfortable conversation with myself. I said, “Ifeanyi, why are you inconsistent? Are you lazy or do you lack ambition?”
The greatest gift you can ever give yourself is self-awareness.
The more uncomfortable conversations you have with yourself, the more self-aware you become.
I couldn’t answer this question on the first day. The answer came to me through writing in my journal daily. I wrote about my fears, my failures, my pain, my successes and my motives.
I realized I’m not lazy.
I’m not unambitious.
If you’ve been frustrated by this question, “why are you inconsistent?” and you haven’t found the answer, here’s what I learned.
The answer to my question is:
The 1 reason why you can’t be consistent is self-doubt
Every time you doubt yourself, you procrastinate on your dreams.
Every time you doubt yourself, you follow your dreams one day and drop it the next.
You listen to Gary Vee’s motivational podcast and you’re pumped to achieve your goals. You write 1000 words. You’re thrilled. Life is beautiful.
The next day, the tiny voice in your head asks you, “why bother? Why try to be someone you can never be? You don’t have what it takes to succeed. There are many successful people in your field. No one wants to listen to you”.
You stop.
You procrastinate.
Until you hear another motivational speech. Or you become sick of your current state.
You start again.
And then, you stop.
How to break this never-ending cycle
The truth is you might never stop doubting yourself.
Most successful people have experienced self-doubt.
I was surprised to find this quote by Kobe Bryant, a five-time NBA championship winner:
“I have self-doubt. I have insecurity. I have fear of failure. I have nights when I show up at the arena and I’m like, ‘my back hurts, my feet hurt, my knees hurt. I don’t have it. I just want to chill’. We all have self-doubt. You don’t deny it, but you also don’t capitulate to it. You embrace it.”
Steven Pressfield in Turning Pro talked about self-doubt in a profound way, “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. Amateurs let adversity defeat them. The pro thinks differently. He shows up, he does his work, he keeps on truckin’ no matter what”.
You doubt yourself every single day but you show up.
You break this never-ending cycle of inconsistency by doing the work despite the tiny voice in your head.
I doubt myself every day.
But I’m sitting here at 8:40 pm writing on Medium.
The tiny voice in my head is telling me not to bother. My stats were not great in my last post. Other writers are more successful than I am. No one wants to listen to me.
But my love for my craft and my desire to make a contribution to the world makes me sit here this evening to write.
I work despite the tiny voice in my head.
I work even if a part of me feels this post might suck.
The joy I derive from doing what I love becomes greater than self-doubt.
Conclusion
Do the work!
Don’t let the tiny voice stop you.
Wake up every day to work on your craft even if it’s for only 10 minutes.
I love this quote by Jeff Goins, “frequent small steps beat occasional big leaps every time”.
You win when you do the work.
You win when you act on your dreams.
You win when you don’t let self-doubt win.
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