Consistency: Core of Worthwhile

My wife, Andrea, is due with our 2nd son on February 12th so I’ll be taking a break from writing on a consistent basis after today. My thoughts are on consistency today and a longer read than normal.

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My son, Tate, is just over two years old. He’s a sweet boy, but he went through a phase of hitting / smacking a few months back. Each time he was frustrated or upset, he’d smack us. Normal for a toddler, but incredibly frustrating when it’s happening routinely. We quickly implemented a discipline routine that included taking Tate to timeout (first step on stairs), saying “do we hit?”, requiring him to say “no”, and then hugging it out. It wasn’t fun to implement this and it wasn’t fun to put it into action, but it worked. It didn’t work because we did it once or twice. It worked because we did the same routine over and over. We were consistent - even when it was it was inconvenient.

I don’t share this to say we hacked some code or have parenting figured it out - I certainly don’t. I share it because I believe deeply that consistency is at the core of everything worthwhile.

Andrea often shares with me that being married is not built on the choice to be with someone on the day of your wedding. It’s the choice you make to be with that person every single day.

Our society, for whatever reason, seems to buy into this theory of “random & spontaneous success.” It actually bothers me how much people seem to expect “success” to just appear/happen. We hear and read bout edge cases that make journeys sound much easier than they were. It’s noise that pulls us away from consistency.

Relationships, of all kinds, are built on consistent effort, love, etc.

Ideas become tangible businesses after consistent action. Then, through compounding consistency, businesses grow/scale.

Professional athletes don’t randomly decide to be good at their sport. They perfect craft through consistency in the physical and mental areas of life.

Consistency, in all forms, is normally mundane. It’s not glorious or attractive. That’s what makes it difficult. But, as I shared, consistency is at the core of everything worthwhile.