The Value of Consistency
David Freund, Chief Leadership Officer
We often look for clever tricks to help us accomplish something and overlook the most effective tool—consistency. It’s not a fun or sexy word. In fact, it’s quite boring and may sound too simplistic, but consistency is a person’s best friend. Billions of dollars are spent on quick fixes, and yet consistency is free. From fad diets to instant shines on your car, we don’t want to put in the effort or wait a bit for our gratification. However, sadly, we are often left disappointed and wishing for different results.
This week, Marisa and I will release the 200th episode of The Next Page Podcast. Two hundred episodes without missing a single week. We remained consistent each week through a maternity leave, annual vacations, work-related trips, technical issues, and of course, my frequent upper respiratory issues. It is a good thing we didn’t have to pay engineer Tim for all the coughs he edited out over the years.
What started as a promise to consistently release one podcast episode each week for one year has turned into almost four years. The results are surprising. The Next Page has been downloaded in 21 countries. Most downloads are in the United States, but surprisingly Spain comes in at number two, followed by Costa Rica, Canada, Ireland, and Germany. The Next Page has been downloaded in 36 states. New York has the most downloads, followed by Florida, Texas, California, and Ohio.
Why a promise for one year? Tim, our engineer, agreed to edit and post the podcast so long as we agreed to one year. According to Tim, “You need to show consistency and some longevity before people will decide to follow you.” Early on, we wouldn’t get that many downloads, and I would be discouraged when the number was just 20 or 30. Tim’s reply was so profound, “If you had 20-30 people attending a class you taught each week, would you be discouraged?” Of course, the answer was no, and so we kept going.
The old adage is still correct. Motivation gets you going; consistency keeps you growing. Did I always feel like writing or recording? Nope! Did Marisa and I always do it? Yup. Recently I was wondering if it still had value. Were people still interested in The Next Page? The answer came a few weeks back when we had an issue with a recording, so the release was a couple of days late. During a MACNY webinar, someone asked Marisa where the podcast was. I guess it still has some value, and we will continue to live out the Law of Consistency.
I want to thank Marisa for joining me on this journey, it never would have happened without her willingness. And together, Marisa and I would like to thank our loyal listeners—we hope you’re still finding value each week.
If you would like to hear more about the value of consistency, please join us for Episode 200 of The Next Page podcast.
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