Why am I still doing this?
It's been nine months since I started this weekly newsletter, here's why I am still showing up every week...
Happy New Month everyone!
I’ve successfully written a newsletter every week since November and I'm still very amazed how I've managed to come this far. This week I want to talk about the importance of consistency and what I've learnt in the last nine months.
A life-changing lesson I took from the book ‘Atomic Habits’ was “don’t break the chain”. This productivity method helps you to commit to completing a goal for an extended period of time. Your only job is to not break the chain, a little becomes a lot by just keeping at it. I’ve built a streak now and the feeling of not wanting to break the chain motivates me to stay consistent.
‘Don’t break the chain’ can be applied to any habit you want to build, whether that’s exercising, writing, or reading. If you focus on doing it for a small amount of time daily or weekly you’ll end up reaping the compounding benefits.
I think we often downplay how much we are truly capable of achieving. When I first started the newsletter, I originally planned for it to be a biweekly newsletter. I soon realised that I wasn't challenging myself enough and had no good enough reason as to why not do it a weekly one. After all, there are people like Seth Godin who blogs daily. This realisation reinforced why it’s important to put yourself in an environment where you’re constantly pushing and stretching yourself because you can always do more. as you can see people who are playing bigger than you.
Writing weekly has helped me become much more accountable. Being an entrepreneur I am my own boss and manager. Ultimately it is down to me whether I want to send out a newsletter or not, no one is going to tell me off. I have to take full responsibility for my actions and hold myself accountable. Keeping to your commitments will give you a higher level of self-trust, self-respect, self-worth, and self-integrity.
Writing benefits me in numerous ways. Journaling frequently helps me with my self-awareness and feeling much more centred. Writing publicly allows me to follow my curiosity and write my thoughts in a digestible manner. It has also benefitted me regarding my attitude towards putting out my work. I refuse to let perfectionism cripple me. Rather than focusing on waiting to be a great writer before publishing my first newsletter, I decided to focus on becoming a great writer by writing, publishing, and refining frequently.
Lastly, being consistent shows your commitment, helps you build trust, and establish awareness. Sometimes it may not seem like it, but many people are being inspired by you and the work you’re putting out, so it’s important you keep going because the moment you stop, people will realise. It’s important not to do things just for the praise, you have to get to work regardless of if you’re being recognised for your efforts or not. It’s all on you.
50% of success is just showing up and sticking at it. There’s no cheat code, make a plan and stick to it. You will respect yourself much more and be very proud of yourself.
Have a great week!
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