I’ve banged on and on about consistency for years. You might even say I’ve been consistent with my messaging about consistency.
Recently, I’ve discovered that consistency is a trap, and it looks like this:
- You’re still showing up just like you always have, but your KPIs have plateaued. Views, subscribers, revenue—whatever you track—haven’t moved in months. Or worse, they’re moving in the wrong direction.
- You’re bored. You’re doing the same things day in and day out. You’re doing the things that got you here, and that you used to be excited about, but now they feel rote. Like a classically trained pianist being forced to play chopsticks day after day.
- Your attention is increasingly drawn to shiny objects that promise the world, but are really just a distraction.
Does that mean I’m abandoning my consistent support for consistency? Not at all.
When consistency matters more than anything else
Consistency alone is the goal in only one situation:
When you’re new, and just building up your entrepreneurial muscles.
That’s when showing up is more important than being innovative or thought provoking. Publishing a blog post every week, launching new products each month, connecting with other people in your niche on a daily basis—all of that creates momentum, and momentum doesn’t care if your video is perfectly polished or your email lands in someone’s trash.
It’s the effort that matters most, not the results.
Consistency at this stage is for you, it’s not for others. It creates routine and structure and builds your muscle memory. It reinforces that you are a business owner rather than a hobbyist. It also builds confidence in yourself, your ideas, and your ability to follow through on your plans.
Along the way, something good happens. Those consistent habits compound. You gain traction. You make a few sales, develop a few friendships, traffic ticks up. It’s slow at first, but the momentum builds as you maintain a consistent pace.
This is where the benefits of consistency shift. It’s no longer about muscle memory and “putting in the reps.” Now it’s getting real results, and the numbers continue to trend upwards. You keep doing what you’re doing, because it’s working.
Shout out to consistency!
How consistency becomes complacency
Then one day, the momentum slows. Not a lot at first. In fact, you probably don’t even notice it right away. It’s never a catastrophic drop. More of a slow decline. The emails that used to result in 100 sales now account for only 95. Then 89. Then 70.
You’re still showing up in the same way, doing all the same things, being consistent. It’s the results that have changed.
That’s when you know that consistency alone is no longer enough. You’ve turned a corner from consistency into complacency, and you’ve begun to coast.
Don’t get me wrong. Coasting can be fun. The only problem is that it’s all downhill.
Escaping the consistency trap
Ok, you might be thinking, if consistency isn’t the answer, what is?
It’s simple: Increase the pressure. Aim for better instead of just consistent.
When you’re queuing up your regular weekly email ask, “How can I encourage more people to click through to the sales page in this email?”
When you’re writing your next blog post, consider how you can improve your on-page SEO so it ranks higher in the Google search results. Do you need a stronger headline? A better keyword? More images (or fewer)?
Look back on your YouTube thumbnails and find the style that enjoys the highest clickthrough. Update the others to match, then split test your next few videos.
In other words, make the shift from “consistently showing up” to “consistently improving.”
That classically trained pianist didn’t get to Carnegie Hall by playing Chopsticks consistently. They got there by mastering Chopsticks, getting bored, and then reaching for Rachmaninoff.
Where do you need to stretch beyond consistency alone, so you can stop coasting and start climbing?
