on being consistent

the combination of consistency, intensity, and relentless pursuit to get the thing you want

Consistency is everything. Once you get over the hurdle of doing something a few times and build it into a routine, you can develop and get good at any skill you want. Consistency, with a combination of intensity, is the killer combo of getting over the hurdle to do anything.

a story of consistency about someone I admire

I met a girl last year - and you probably might know her from Twitter. She had an eager passion for writing and would go to a cafe every single weekend to write and make sense of the world. She published her thoughts onto Substack consistently even when no one else was watching. And most people probably didn’t understand this intense infatuation she had for writing, but she did it anyway. She looked up to other writers like Ava from bookbear express and immersed herself in reading a lot of great craft to get her to the point of articulating her own thoughts in a similar power to them.

In a matter of months, people started to notice, and she grew to 18k followers on twitter, and now quit her job to pursue her passion for writing full-time. And it wasn't just her talent that got her here, it was also because she was consistent as hell, and pursued her passion relentlessly, no matter the external results.

finding consistency in my own life

I can’t even count how many times I added going to the gym to my list of resolutions, but it would eventually fall off my radar after the January bliss wore off. The activation energy of doing it felt so high - it was so much easier to prioritize doing other things because those results were easier to measure and justify to myself why I was doing them. 

When I finally approached it with internal motivation enjoying the process of going) vs hyper-fixation on external motivation (results), I was able to turn that consistency into discipline and finally made it a non-negotiable for myself. It became a natural part of my routine, and my excitement for it became intense. My apple notes were constantly filled with new routines to try, I couldn’t wait to jam out to music, and it was the only time of day when time felt truly like my own. I couldn’t imagine a day not going.

being consistent is showing up every day, even when things are hard

You have to be consistent, intense, and commit to the bit even when you’re absurdly terrible at the skill you want to grow. You have to celebrate progress for yourself because no one ever talks about progress. No one talks about the in-between stage when you’re at the cusp of figuring things out. To get to a good draft of writing you need to dump thousands of words on a page that you probably won’t even use in your final piece to get to something good. You have to make time for the thing you want to learn even when it’s hard.

People say it’s easier to build and explore skills when you’re young, and I get why. When you pick up a paintbrush as a kid, you’re never overthinking it’s a waste of time to try it if you don’t become the next Picasso. You try it because it’s fun, and you’re not afraid to fail. To become consistent and embark on your journey of creative exploration, you need to apply a child-like curiosity to failing and learning for the sake of learning, no matter the final result.

I think if I bring this same discipline and motivation to other aspects of my life, I’ll be able to experience similar progress toward other goals. I wrote in my piece here realizing how I want to best spend my time that I want to dedicate chunks of time to writing and creating things. Carving out that time consistently has done wonders in getting me closer to making progress in my creative pursuits.

It takes courage to be consistent. To be consistent when no one's watching. To be consistent even when you're not good. Because it takes consistency to eventually get good.

Related reads

• https://www.mathurah.com/thoughts/how-i-want-to-spend-my-time - putting some of this consistency into practice - I talk about how I structure to include the things I love in my weeks. 

• https://www.jquiambao.com/ - my friend James, is also a huge inspiration. He writes every single hecking day without missing a beat! A great example of someone I know that is very consistent.

• Talker’s block -talks about if you want to avoid writer's block, you should write as often as you talk.

• Making mistakes and Learning how to Structure my Week - fire video by @mylenetu- key learning at the end is where she mentions not to strive for perfection, but strive for consistency, and showing up for yourself everyday is what really matters.

~ mathu

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other life updates 💞

• moved back to San Francisco for the summer! it honestly feels like a second home to me now, and this time, a lot of my friends are living less than < 10 minutes away from me which is really fun

• so stoked for rabbitholeathon to take place this upcoming weekend! 🐇 will be heading to North Carolina to spend a weekend learning and exploring with curious friends

• I’m halfway done my internship at netflix as a prototyping engineer! I’m really loving it a lot - I think I finally found a perfect role that combines both my interests in working closely with design teams, running experiments, and bringing ideas to life. also exploring the entertainment space is a ton of fun!