Consistency is the cheat code
It's a simple life and business hack
There’s a strange paradox about being a speaker and / or having some form of platform to help others. At least for me. I’ve no ideal if anyone else has this…
Sometimes, the advice we give is the advice we should give ourselves.
And this one is one that I need to remind myself of, on a daily basis!
Consistency is the cheat code.
Just imagine a brick wall.
We don’t just wish for it and it happens.
Instead, it is built, brick by brick.
The first few bricks might be the toughest and most time consuming to lay. I imagine that you’ve got to get your cement mixed, get your tools together. work out where it’ll be, have a cuppa… you get the drill.
(PS I’m not a brickie and never have been. But I did help my Dad when I was a kid!)
Each brick represents an equal step towards the end goal, but it’s boring. A three bedroom house requires over 11,000 bricks according to Google! But each one is as important as the other. And without a single one of them, the house can’t be built.
So many people, including me, look for shortcuts to success.
A ‘magic pill’ that makes you healthy and happy.
A ‘hack’ that makes you more productive.
An ‘investment’ that makes you a billionaire.
The reality is that every wall is built from hundreds, if not thousands of bricks. And the process of laying the bricks is just as important as the finished product.
They get easier to lay as time goes on and you’re in the swing of it.
What’s more, once you’ve built it, you value it.
Think of the stories of the lottery winners who lose it all.
I often tell audiences and share on social media various cliches such as “big riches come from small pound notes”, and so on. It’s true.
If you want a million social media followers, start by attracting 10, each day. It’s very hard work just to get that! But that’s what I did in the early days.
If you want a pension fund of a million pounds, start by saving £100 per month.
If you want to lift 100kg, start by lifting what you can lift, and add small increments.
And so on.
Here’s the most important part… don’t give up after a couple of bricks!
Probably the most unattractive and boring advice I can give. I could tell you to take joy in laying each brick, but that’s down to you. Personally, I find it tough. I can visualise the end goal and I want it yesterday. It’s rubbish, but it’s a fact of life. We all need reminding of it sometimes. Life doesn’t seem to like us taking too many shortcuts.
Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Carl Reader is a WH Smith Bestselling Author and international keynote speaker with a real passion for helping people do better. There are two ways to learn more about Carl! You can either follow him on Social Media if you’re just curious (@carlreader on most platforms), or if you’d like to learn a little more about what he does on stage, through content and in the media from a commercial perspective, you can visit his website.
You can buy a copy of his last book BOSS IT here, wherever you are in the world. And of course, I’d love you to subscribe to this community to be the first to see everything I have to share - just click the button below. It’s free of charge!
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