Nothing special. No incredible lifehack or productivity booster. Just plain old consistent work that eventually snowballs into some incredible results. We are an instant gratification generation. We want things now. We want things to happen fast. But sometimes we need to be 'patiently impatient' to be able reach our highest goals and ambitions.

10,000 miles is a big distance.

But to walk 10,000 miles, it’s just one foot in front of the other, each step of the way.

If you focus on the 10,000 miles all at once it will seem impossible. If you focus on that first step and the next it all seems very possible...

Consistency gives us the momentum we need to move forward.

If we want to reach our summit and our goals that are 10,000 miles away, we must also need to know where we are going.

We need a map, a guide, a sherpa to show us the way forward.

So you must learn, model and study the people who have come before you and have done what you want to do. Find mentors, read, learn, work, and then consistently execute against what you learn from these resources - day in, day out, week in, week out, year in, year out. And that consistency forged through passion or pure perseverance will start to yield the results you hope to see. And a lot of times results beyond our wildest dreams.

Be focused and consistent. Consistency pays off.

Intellectually you could know where the summit is. But if you don’t take that first step, and move in that direction, then you are not really going anywhere.

If you are reading this and think that I'm always on top my game and that everything is easy don’t be fooled. I can binge watch netflix with the best of them.

But one thing that I’ve fortunately learned to do is to be consistent. Consistent with how often I learn, how often I ship, how often I design,how often I write and how often I try to put myself out there.

What could you achieve if you committed yourself to being consistent?

When the world is not watching, when nobody seems to care, when you don’t see the results immediately. You have to embrace and enjoy the process of being consistent. Even if it feels daunting at times.

You can’t control the results of a particular outcome that is external to you.But you can control the consistency of your actions, that can help you achieve those things.

I started posting on dribbble for fun. 1 shot at a time. I started with 0 followers.

When I started this blog/newsletter. I started with 1 letter, 1 sentence, 1 paragraph then 1 article. Over time it has become many articles. When I started writing there were 0 readers. I’m not a natural writer, it doesn’t come easy to me. I’m not even a good writer. But I’m consistent and I love connecting with people and sharing my thoughts and ideas.

When I created my own products for the first time, I started with just an idea, then I validated that idea with my audience. I then consistently executed on that vision until I shipped it. Each day I planned and chipped away at it slowly. And now I have a product that I am extremely proud of. And a home to a community of awesome designers. The business has done 7 figures and helped 2000+ designers from some of the worlds best companies, Apple, Google, Slack, Huge and Work and Co. I just took it one day at a time and tried to help designers as much as I could. Bring value to others.

I didn’t do anything special. I just showed up consistently. I was consistent in putting the reps to do the work, even though it seemed like no one was watching. I showed up and executed.

In total my writing and work has been viewed 10 million times – if you want to get exact it’s 10,288,656. And has been read by over 250,000 people. When I started, I started at the same place as everybody else. It was at 0. I focused on the process and I focused on having fun and being consistent.

And because of that consistency, people start to notice, you start to provide value to people, and then it creates this habit loop.I don’t even consider myself a writer but over the last few years I haven’t gone more than 2 weeks without writing. Consistency creates habits.

But what happens when you don’t have time to show up? 

Your life is busy and you have a job and don’t have hours on end to be consistent. You have a life. I too have a family, friends, a life, hobbies, other kinds of work that I pursue. Being consistent doesn’t mean working yourself to the ground. Nor does it have to be grandiose like spending hours upon hours being consistent and ‘hustling’. While neglecting everything else that's important in your life.

Consistency can be set to your own timeline on your own terms. One small commitment to yourself each day.

It can be 30 mins to read. 30 mins on a side project. 30 mins to learn something new. 30 mins to exercise. 1 small consistent thing that you can do, to move you into the direction that you want to go.

I’d like to share a story about Masayoshi Son CEO of Softbank one of the largest companies in the world. When Masayoshi was in university he wanted to make $10,000 a month, that was his goal. The problem was he was a top student at the time and he didn’t have the time to get a regular job. But that was the goal and the outcome he wanted.

He was Japanese student at an American university. So he asked his friends if there was a job that he could take where he could earn $10,000 a month by working 5mins a day at. His friends burst out laughing and told him that it was impossible unless he considered selling drugs. Since he didn’t want to do that, Masayoshi Son found another way.

He brainstormed. What would be the best and most efficient use of his time? He pondered…

He concluded in order to achieve what he wanted he would need to invent something. It was the only logical way he concluded where he he could leverage that amount of time into that kind of cash output.

So he invested only 5 mins a day, consistently over a period of days, weeks and months. Eventually it lead to him to invent the world’s first electronic dictionary. He eventually sold it to sharp for $1.7 million. After 18 months and 2 inventions later he’d made $3.2 million total.

In the end he told his friends that it was possible to make more than just $10,000 even if you just spent 5 mins a day consistently on something.

Crazy story I know. But there is a lesson there.

What could you achieve if you consistently invested a piece of your time everyday on something?

Don’t underestimate what you can achieve with just 30mins a day consistently doing something. Start forming some consistent habits today. You are planting the seeds for success which you can sow in the future. Your goals and ambitions lie just on the other side of consistently showing up. We all start at 0. Where we end up is through our passion, perseverance and the consistency that we show.

You might also like:

How I try to improve as a designer A strategy for accomplishing your goals 18 valuable lessons for new freelance designers The last 3 years as a freelance designer/indie maker