The power of consistency

As I'm rereading Atomic Habits, I'm reminded of the power in doing things consistently.

It's boring, it's surprisingly hard, yet it's how to get better at anything.

Results take time

We tend to overestimate what we can do in a year and underestimate what we can do in a decade.

We also overestimate what we can do in a day and underestimate what we can do in a year.

Often, we think that change will come from a large defining moment in our lives. We sit and wait for that big flash of inspiration that will finally motivate us to take exercise seriously.

Yet, the solution may simply be to start doing one pushup a day. Every day. One pushup then becomes two, three, seven, twenty and eventually you're in the gym doing benchpresses.

In Atomic Habits, James Clear makes the point that outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. A slight change in your daily habits can guide your life to a very different destination.

If you can get just 1% better each day, you'll end up with results that are nearly 37 times better after a year. — James Clear

Imagine 3, 5, or 10 years of dedicated effort…

Sadly though, we tend to give up way to soon.

This reminds me of one of the most famous pieces by Visualize Value

This has happened to me so many times. I gave up on football when things got tough, all the YouTube channels I started as a kid because no videos went viral in the first few months, all my side hustles in uni because I didn't see traction, going to the gym because I didn't see the results I hoped and so much more.

So this is a lesson I've taken close to heart.

Commit

If you find something worth doing—don't give up. Commit to persisting for a very long time.

Don't tie your self-worth into vanity metrics or things you can't control.

Learn to enjoy the process.

Play the infinite game.

This is what my intention is now for exercise and creative work.

P.S. If you want a cool app to track your habits, I started using HabitKit and absolutely love it.