Consistency over Inspiration
Almost a year ago, I decided to embark on a new project: writing my first book, "The Path Less Travelled". In the beginning, inspiration was at its peak, allowing me to take a very proactive approach towards my writing. But very quickly, the inspiration and motivation started to fade away. I encountered many blockages and challenges in the process: not being able to find direction on the narratives and ideas I wanted to share, writer's block, lack of structure, and a nomadic lifestyle that didn't allow me to have a writing routine (excuse, I know).
After a few weeks, as the motivation and inspiration faded, I stopped writing consistently. I was aware of my lack of discipline and consistency, and that was painful for many months. Knowing that I had a deeper calling and a project aligned with my passion and journey, but still not taking action, was frustrating. I kept postponing my writing. Writing only when inspiration came to me wasn’t enough. Motivation and inspiration are important but aren’t sustainable in the long run. It got to a point where the pain of not having a sustainable way of progressing on my goals was haunting me. I had to make a change.
Most of us know what we need to do, yet we struggle with taking action. I was tired of that, so I started taking actionable steps towards my goals and creating sustainable systems that could help me in the long run. Again, motivation and inspiration are great, but I realized that without a solid foundation in my systems, inspiration alone wasn’t going to make it.
I realized that writing a book was such a monumental task, so big and intimidating, that just the thought of writing a book was overwhelming. It paralyzed me and blocked me. I needed smaller, achievable, actionable steps to make progress. So, one month ago I made a promise to myself to start a blog and write every second day, no matter what. I needed to start developing the ability to stick to a practice consistently. I knew that ultimately, this was the only way to eventually get to process on my book.
I know it hasn’t been much time, but it’s been enough time to realize how important it is to break big goals into small, actionable plans that allow you to make small but consistent progress. I have come to the conclusion that we can create motivation and inspiration in a very sustainable manner. Before, inspiration was coming once in a blue moon. Now, I would lie if I told you I feel it every time I write, but the fact that I have this commitment to sit in front of the laptop every second day has allowed me to create a space in which motivation and inspiration arise.
Being consistent and persistent with activities that align with your purpose and soul path helps build confidence and trust in oneself. This process has made me very aware of my own bullshit and all the unconscious ways I was managing to find excuses not to do the work. Resistance is there to be beaten. Steven Pressfield mentioned this in his book The War of Art: "The most important thing in our art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting every day and trying."
After a long time being beaten by resistance, I can finally say I am finding my way. I know this isn’t uncommon; we all experience resistance to some extent. I encourage you to break down your big goals into small, actionable steps, moving slowly but surely. Consistency is king. Inspiration is a byproduct of consistency. The more bulletproof our levels of discipline and consistency, the more we get to experience inspiration about our goals, projects, and life vision.
Much love,
Matias