Do any of these sound familiar?
“I can’t stay consistent on social media.”
“I post for a few months and then stop – there’s no more drive to do it.”
“I sent my newsletter for a few weeks and then stopped — I couldn’t do it every week.”
I hear a variation of these statements in almost every strategy session, Consistency IS hard — and you’re definitely not the only one struggling to show up every day. So I have developed a few advice frameworks to share with my clients.
We’ll get to them in a second after a message from…me. Today’s partner had a family emergency that prevented them from sending me their promo copy, so I’m taking this opportunity to show you my newly launched welcome sequence:
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Why is consistency so damn hard?
We often blame a lack of willpower when we can’t stick to something. But the truth is deeper — it’s about navigating distractions, battling perfectionism, and confronting our own expectations.
The world around us thrives on instant gratification, but consistency? It asks us to be patient in a world that isn’t.
Neuroscience tells us that the human brain is wired to respond to dopamine, the “feel-good neurotransmitter”. In turn, dopamine is triggered by a sense of novelty, which consistency pretty much cancels out.
We seek new thrills, new flavors, exciting new beginnings. So churning out social media posts or any other type of content day in and day out is dopamine-killing drudgery.
Social media is rigged for dopamine
Social media platforms know how to keep users engaged — a little too well for our good. They slowly drip dopamine your way throw carefully curated for-you feeds and, of course, likes, comments, and views.
Remember the thrill you got when you received your first like on social media? Probably not that vividly – but I’m sure you remember how it felt to be completely depleted of social-media-generated dopamine when one of your posts flopped.
It sucks, doesn’t it?
To add insult to injury, the suckiness is unavoidable because social media and content creation generate hedonic treadmills.
Hedonic treadmills and how to hop off them
The hedonic treadmill concept, “also known as hedonic adaptation, suggests that despite experiencing positive events or acquiring desirable possessions, our happiness levels tend to return to a stable baseline over time.” [Source]
The hedonic treadmill is that sneaky cycle where you get a quick dopamine hit from likes and comments, but then you need more and more to feel satisfied. Did your post get 100 likes today?
That number won’t be enough tomorrow — you’ll need at least 100+ likes to feel the same rush again because “the extraordinary quickly becomes commonplace”.
Social media is designed to keep you running on this treadmill without ever feeling like you’ve “arrived.”
When we hop on a hedonic treadmill, we also take social comparison with us, which makes us compare our results with those of our peers. Whatever we do and however massive our success, there’s always someone who’s done better than us.
So we start from scratch, looking for new dopamine sources, often at the expense of consistency: we ditch our good habits if they don’t produce results fast enough.
The problem? If your goal is tied to external validation, you’ll never feel successful because you’re chasing a moving target.
On the other hand, consistency asks you to show up, even when no one’s watching, even when it feels pointless.
Psychologists suggest we implement gratitude practices and be more intentional about our activities, as ways to generate dopamine without the endless search for novelty. However, we both know these things have their limitations, especially if you have a genetic predisposition for dopamine-seeking.
So how do you stay consistent when dopamine runs out?
First off, a reality check: we often try to do too much. I read somewhere that we overestimate how much we can do in one day and underestimate what we can do in a year. I forgot the source but this idea really hit home for me.
You know I’m all about the long game and building passive value, so let’s start with the most obvious idea:
Choose your battles carefully
You don’t need a million habits that demand consistency, you just need one that’s rock-solid. For me, that’s this newsletter.
Rain, shine, or global meltdown — it’s going out. I’ve kept it consistent for over two years because I’m not trying to juggle ten priorities. I’ve got ONE.
I do post regularly on social media as well, but, whenever I had to choose between social media and writing this newsletter, the latter won — every time!
Consider your top priority: is it a newsletter? A community? Posting on social media?
Whatever it is, make room for it. Everything else can fade into the background.
Accountability over motivation
Making room for your top priority is often easier said than done, I know. What helps me is humanizing it.
Listen, it’s very easy to start treating people as numbers or dollar signs: a couple thousand subscribers, 10K followers, hundreds of comments. Like me, you may track some of these metrics in a spreadsheet somewhere.
This makes it even easier to forget that there are humans behind ALL these numbers. Not soulless bots but humans that you’ve made a promise to.
They can be your silent accountability buddies.
I make this easier for myself by posting a teaser for every newsletter issue the day before it goes out. Here’s the teaser for this one, published yesterday.
In other words, I promised the 13,000 people who follow me on LinkedIn that they would learn about consistency today. Some of them subscribed specifically to read this issue ((hiya and welcome!)
I am accountable to them and to all of you who know that a new issue drops every Thursday.
On the other hand, I know that I’m privileged: I’m not burdened by too many family responsibilities and life doesn’t get in my way too often.
Still, I’m as susceptible as you to an impromptu session of doomscrolling or bikeshedding in general. This is why I make my deadlines public: I need to be held accountable.
Motivation is fickle; consistency is who you are when motivation and dopamine are gone.
Set yourself up for success:
Systems trump motivation
Most of us don’t have a motivation problem; we have a systems problem. We wait for the magical burst of inspiration to strike, but that’s like waiting for lightning to hit the same spot twice.
→ Is the lack of inspiration preventing you from staying consistent with your publishing schedule? Check out my system to never run out of content ideas again.
→ Is content creation taking too long? Use my repurposing and republishing guide.
→ Are you over-editing and overthinking every piece of content? Remember that small mistakes will make you more likable (The Pratfall Effect). Plus, the occasional typo or rant will prove that your content is not AI-generated. Perfectionism leads to procrastination and paralysis — i.e. it kills your consistency.
If all else fails, batch-create
Set aside one or two days a month to create all your content — long-form and short-form. Schedule it, too, if you want to go the extra mile.
This way, you won’t scramble for ideas when you’re crunched for time.
Plus, it will help you be WAY more strategic with your content. One of the things I do with my Growth Intensive clients is map out their entire content calendar 6-12 months in advance depending on their business goals.
This way, when a product launch is approaching, they know exactly what to create and when to publish it — months in advance, so they can batch-create at will whenever they find a pocket of free time.
Turn it into a stackable habit
I can’t remember the last time I forgot to brush my teeth — can you? This habit is so deeply embedded in my brain that it happens no matter what.
No matter how busy I am, my teeth get brushed at least twice a day.
The same can happen to anything you want to turn into a habit. To make it easier, piggyback on a habit you already have. For instance, after you have breakfast, write for 30 minutes.
James Clear calls it “habit stacking” and it can be a powerful technique to re-wire your brain. The only downside is that it will take some time until this new habit becomes second nature, like brushing your teeth.
Consistency is not glamorous or easy
But you know what is? Getting the results you wanted.
Boring always wins because there are very few people who can step off the hedonic treadmill and get things done, with or without dopamine.
This is why I always encourage you to think years, not days ahead. Consistency is hard for all of us most days.
I often have to white-knuckle things. However, if I look at how far I’ve come in two years, I know most of it is due to consistency and showing up as promised.
That doesn’t mean that you have to white-knuckle your every business task – if it feels this way, it’s time for a deeper re-assessment. However, a few smart systems, keeping the promises you’ve made to your audience, and reminding yourself why you’re doing these things help climb the boring mountain when you need it.
You’ve got this!
🔦Community Spotlight
In the spirit of this issue, my friend Andre Alexander has a free resource to help you get back to your why and build a business that fits your lifestyle — not the other way around. He promises that his system can set you up for success in 90 days. Grab it here!
💡 Want your name here? Scroll to the bottom of this email to find your referral link & start referring people to Ideas to Power Your Future!
🎙️ My interviews and podcasts
I’ve recently been on the She Hustles podcast, hosted by two amazing women, Julie Hanell and Giulia Gasperoni. Among other spicy takes, I talked about manipulation and how to easily spot it on sales pages and in sales scripts. Check it out on YouTube or on your favorite podcast platform.
