Tag: trust

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Still One Day at a Time

Last night I started to spiral as I thought about how much longer this quarantine could last. A year? A year and a half? Even typing that my heart starts to beat faster and my stomach clenches in anxiety. I can’t go there. If I start thinking too far into the future I sink into despair. I realize this is a business blog, but the reality is my personal life and business life blend – they always have. One affects the other as much as I’d like to keep them separate. What that means is how I respond in my personal life will also apply to my business life.

What I’m focusing on is taking things one day at a time. A quote that comes to mind right now is from Sarah Orne Jewett who said, “Tain’t worthwhile to wear a day all out before it comes.” Yep. When I spin out into worry over what will happen to me, what will happen to my business, how I will make money, I’m absolutely wearing the day out before it comes. Some planning is important of course, but I’m finding the only way to stay sane in this insane period is to take things one day at a time. Or even one hour at a time.

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I think pretty much every spiritual teacher encourages people to stay present and in the moment. That’s never felt more relevant for us as a collective. I’m used to applying that principle on a micro level, but now we’re applying it on a macro one. If anything, COVID-19 has shown us we don’t know what will happen. We can’t predict the future – we’re all just guessing. In the meantime, what can we do here, now?

For me, it’s continuing to freelance as a writer. It means content writing for my clients, telling stories of transformation. It means contacting new people about how I can serve them in this time with my writing skills. It means keeping my finances up to date and billing the people I work with. It also means understanding some people will not be able to pay me right now, or won’t be able to pay me in full.

COVID-19 has taught me how to be nimble and flexible, to let go of expectations and surrender to what is both in my business life and my professional life. I am not in control of what’s happening. Not even a little bit. But I am in control of how I respond to what’s happening. I’m in control of how I’m spending my days.

The best way I know how to spend my days is to stay in the day. To be where my feet are. I feel more grounded and less anxious when I think about what’s next instead of what’s to come down the line. Because again, honestly, I have no idea what’s to come. But neither does anyone else. That can be a scary prospect or it can be empowering. Regardless, all we have is what’s in front of us: today.

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Why Consistency is Crucial

The way people often work is they get super excited about a new idea and then spring into action. They churn out podcasts or blogposts. They start doing a million things because they’re fired up. And then they burn out. They get tired. Writing a blogpost sounds boring. Mustering up motivation is hard. Maybe they could let it slide just this once … ?

“Just this once” becomes twice and then thrice. Before they know it, it’s been months since they produced any new content and then perhaps the weight of inertia is, well, weighing them down. I get it! Consistency is hard. As a freelance content writer in Oakland, CA, I’m here to help with that because consistency is a key factor to a successful business. Why is that?

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Consistency builds momentum

Let’s face it, nothing happens overnight. Even those “overnight” success stories we hear about don’t account for the many years of hard work and effort an individual or group of individuals put in. We like to think success, wealth, and acclaim drop out of the sky, that they’re a matter of luck, but more often than not, success is a continuous process. It’s compounded growth. Consistency is what gets you were you want to go. Entrepreneur and author Jim Rohn said: “Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals.”

Consistency makes you relevant

As I wrote about before, having a blog helps with search engine optimization (SEO) because it keeps your site dynamic. It shows you’re alive and kicking and search engines like that. Not only search engines, but people too. If you post every week, readers/customers/clients start to trust you. They know you’ll have a predictable flow of information and come to rely on it. They start to believe you’re someone they can count on and trust in the world of business. (By the way, if you need help writing your blog, contact me. I’m a freelance writer in Oakland, CA, but I can write for anyone, anywhere.)

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Consistency creates perspective

When I say consistency creates perspective, I don’t mean in the usual sense that you can see things from another angle. What I mean is consistency allows you to look back and measure your success. If you’ve tried something new for a period of time in a steady way, then you’re able to measure your performance. If you do something haphazardly, then how can you possibly know if it’s working? That’s like exercising once every eight weeks and deeming it’s not helping you lose weight. It’s repetition that allows a person to track their success and repetition helps you understand what works and what doesn’t work.

Consistency focuses on the long term

In the U.S. at least, predominantly the culture focuses on the short term. We want instant gratification. We want immediate results. How many people are playing the long game and thinking years into the future? Consistency isn’t sexy because it’s about incremental progress and improvements over an extended period of time. Most people want the improvements without the incremental progress. Me too. I want to play like Mozart without practicing the piano. I want to have a killer body without working out regularly. However, real life isn’t like that. Consistency, especially if you’ve taken the time to evaluate what you’re doing, is what works. Consistency asks that you focus down the road where you’re going, about where you’d like to be. Consistency also recognizes it’s the baby steps along the way that matter.

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It can be hard to focus on the long term, but the way to do that is to hold your vision. What is important to you? Why does it matter? That clarity acts as a touchstone for why you’re doing what you’re doing. When consistent actions become boring, go back to the touchstone. Also consider what’s one thing you can do to move closer to your dream? Not 10, just one. Instead of striving to write an entire book in an afternoon, shoot for a page, or maybe a chapter. If you write a page a day, in a year or less, you’ll have a book. And a finished book is better than an unfinished one.

Why is consistency crucial for you? What are some examples of consistency working in your life? Lastly, did you like this post? If so, share it! And as always, reach out to me for help with writing content because it’s my jam.