James Barry

What I’ve Learned About Consistency

by | Apr 8, 2021

When I originally started writing on this blog I had one goal: Publish 52 articles in one year.

Good News: I’m still on track to hit that goal

Bad News: This blog officially has no theme. This is ok though, it’s a personal blog after all.

When I committed to writing 52 articles at the beginning of this year, I did it for one reason: To prove to myself that I could stick with a project.

For most of my adult life I had bounced around from idea to idea, never gaining much traction. These ranged from different jobs, new ventures, the next hobby, and everything else in-between. I even managed to sneak in a road-trip across the U.S. in there (would highly recommend if you ever get the chance).

The one thing I had felt I was missing during this time-period though was consistent progress towards a goal.

To tackle this nagging feeling, I created this blog. What I have learned along the way is that the progress you can make when you set yourself to a clear schedule is amazing.

Where I Fell Short

I failed to pick a concise topic. Which is fine because, again, this is just a personal blog.

When I originally started writing though, I had grand plans for be something more.

It all started when I read the book: Atomic Habits. It’s a great read that can be summed up in one lesson: You’ll accomplish great things if you just focus on making 1% improvements every day.

The book itself started out as a self-improvement blog. After reading through many of the different articles I immediately wanted to do the same thing. (I know, not very original.) This led me to pick the most obvious topic: Self-Improvement.

Turns out there were only so many articles on self-improvement that I wanted to write about.

While I could have spent more time reading and researching new topics, my heart just wasn’t in it. I still love the topic of self-improvement, but just not enough to learn about it week in and week out.

Luckily for me (and maybe for you?), I didn’t set the goal of creating a self-help blog with 52 articles. I set a goal of publishing 52-articles about whatever topic I wanted to write about.

This has taught me one thing about goal setting. Goals should be concrete enough to keep you committed, but flexible enough to keep you growing. Pursuing a goal because you said you would is great, but only if there’s a greater purpose to the goal.

What it has helped me learn

This blog has taught me one thing: Consistency is so incredibly, freaking powerful.

Doing something on a set schedule (that you control) is both one of the easiest, and one of the hardest, things to do in the world. 

For a few of my articles, I was able to write them in under a few hours (such as this one). For others, the process would drag on and I’d find myself putting the finishing touches on them at 1:30 at night.

With each article published, I moved one step closer to my goal.

The biggest thing I gained though, was the confidence that I could accomplish audacious goals

Any goal can be within your grasp. You just need to chip away at it a little bit each day (or each week). During this journey, two major quotes resonated with me.

Most people overestimate what they can achieve in a year and underestimate what they can achieve in ten years.

– Bill Gates

Rome wasn’t build in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour.

You don’t have to do it all today. Just lay a brick.

– James Clear

The biggest difference for me was seeing firsthand with my eyes what I can do with consistency. Every time I look at the number of articles I have published, it is a point of pride.

Where will we be going from here?

To the Moon! 🚀💎👐 (Just kidding, however this pop culture reference will now be a permanent part of this blog).

I decided to tackle one of the most audacious goals I could: Learning to code.

There are so, so many reasons that I did not take this leap earlier in life. The three biggest ones are:

  1. It’s incredibly hard to learn
  2. The time commitment is mind-bogglingly large
  3. I thought I could get by in life without learning it.

The thing I’ve realized in recent months though, is that technology is going to continue to progress forward. Being able to understand and interact with it will continue to become more important than ever.

As I start on this new adventure, I know I’m taking another turn in life and my focus. Maybe in 3-months I’ll have moved onto something new. Honestly though, I hope not.

About The Author

👋, I’m James Barry. There is literally no rhyme or reason to this blog.

Click here to learn more