When you are a freelancer or own a business, it means you have complete freedom over your time, decisions, and daily activities. This concept is crucial for content creators and creatives. However, with this freedom comes an essential aspect of your personal or business journey: consistency. Consistency, in a way, contrasts with the freedom that initially attracted you to freelancing or establishing your own business.
Understanding Consistency:
Consistency refers to the commitment, steadiness, and ongoing engagement in a specific activity or behavior. For instance, if you are a photographer, consistency means regularly publishing your photos on your website or social media platforms in a steady, continuous rhythm, without frequent disappearances. This ensures that those interested in your work, including your clients and business followers, can rely on you.
Imagine you run a coffee shop and open its doors daily at 7:00 AM. If you suddenly decide to open at 10:00 AM for two days, then revert to the original time, then close the shop entirely for another two days, and so on, people will gradually lose their trust in your business. This inconsistency would lead to declining sales and increasing losses over time, eventually resulting in a complete business failure.
Benefits of Consistency:
Consistency breeds commitment, and rational commitment fosters creativity:
What I mean by “rational commitment” is the commitment driven by a genuine and meaningful goal that you are working towards, rather than merely showing up or doing something aimlessly to earn money. This means that you are being paid for your presence, not for your work, which is often the case in many traditional jobs.
Consistency forces you to improve involuntarily:
This is one of the basics of continuous practice. Since it’s tied to freedom, it means that what you do, whether it’s for a clear purpose or to fulfill a personal passion, will make you better over time, not worse.
Consistency helps prioritize over time:
It’s easy to get involved in many fields and projects, letting ideas and paths get mixed up. However, over time, consistency will force you to set certain priorities. For example, if you are a designer, one of your priorities will be to share your work and ideas more than anything else. You might even turn down full job opportunities to maintain this priority, indicating that you are working towards a clear and greater goal, which is the true essence of consistency.
Challenges of Consistency:
Consistency differs from job schedules and working hours:
Content creators—designers, photographers, writers, developers, and anyone who creates or offers something—tend to shy away from consistency because it resembles commitment. The difference lies in your goals and the results you gain from this consistency and whether you are forced into it or not.
Consistency is the greatest threat to anyone’s career:
It is the biggest challenge for all content creators and businesses. How many projects and ideas have been started by people around you, only to be abandoned over time until they died off completely? Consistency is often a silent killer because neglecting it happens gradually, not suddenly or noticeably.
Inconsistency will cost you followers:
Going back to the coffee shop example, inconsistency may not necessarily mean losing all your customers. Some people might pass by your shop for the first time, but you will definitely lose your regular and dedicated customers, who are your main target and purpose. This is the biggest problem; losing them means a slow death for your business.
Consistency forces you to deal with uncontrollable circumstances:
Uncontrollable and exceptional circumstances, such as travel or illness, are challenging and frustrating, but they are tied to time, not the person. This means that whether they last a day, a week, or even a month, they will eventually pass. Even ongoing exceptional circumstances will force you to cope or find ways around them. In most cases, they also strengthen your determination and patience until they pass or become routine, allowing you to resume your consistency and productivity.
Sometimes, consistency means slow progress:
Far from excessive idealism, consistency doesn’t necessarily lead to significant changes or milestones in your field or business. If you lack the resources or capabilities, just maintaining a steady operation, or even slight improvements, means you are achieving the goal of consistency. However, you should aim for a bigger goal, which is development and progression to the next level.
Finally, consistency can also be a trap:
Consistency isn’t always the answer; sometimes, it can be a trap. In certain situations, withdrawing or stopping can be a more effective solution. Persisting in something just to avoid being seen as giving up might mean you’re wasting your time and energy. To avoid falling into this trap, regularly assess your work and progress. If the goal and results of consistency are still present and growing, don’t give up. If the purpose and results are no longer there, stop what you’re doing and start anew.