To be great, be consistently inconsistent.

Why I ditched blind consistency and started experimenting instead.

👋🏼 Hey, I’m Anna! I’m a founder and startup consultant in an ongoing relationship with writing. Welcome to my weekly newsletter, where I share insights and ideas across career, business, personal development, creativity, productivity…and everything in between.

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At the beginning of the year I set an intention to write for thirty minutes every single day without fail. My devotion to the Consistency Gods was overshadowed only by my devotion to caffeine, and while I started off strong, my enthusiasm soon evaporated as every day at the desk became a torturous battle against myself.

Writing every day, but mostly hating it.

Despite hating life, fuelled by my stubbornness I continued miserably pounding away until one day six months in I threw up my hands in defeat. Enough was enough. I decided to tap out and take a break.

I bounced over to Europe and for five weeks chomped on charcuterie, dipped my toes in the crystal clear Mediterranean and people-watched in Paris. For the first time in a long time I took note of my surroundings. I allowed new essay ideas to marinate. The trip reminded me that days spent reading, thinking, walking and resting all contribute to producing great work. I realised that showing up in pursuit of my writing goal didn’t always involve chaining myself to the desk.

I returned home less of a drill sergeant; lighter, brighter, and more free.

The result? I became excited to write again.

Writing most days, and loving it.

Realising how much better my output was when I ‘gave up’ on the daily grind got me questioning consistency and whether it really is the silver bullet to success. We’ve been told all of our lives that consistency is key, and many of us are slaves to this philosophy. We think that doing the same thing over a long period of time will get us to where we want to go. But we’re humans, not robots. Slogging away can turn our once enjoyable habit into a tedious task where nothing is gained except for a boredom-induced headache. It leads us into the ‘consistency slump’ - a state of being where we tick a box for the sake of ticking a box. We do something just because we promised ourselves we would, conditioned to believe that as long as we do just a little bit more, and work a little bit harder, we’ll win.

But when we stop critically analysing whether our actions move the needle, the game’s over before it began. When we’re slaves to routine for routine’s sake, we become shackled to ourselves, closing the door to spontaneity and happy accidents.

Consistency is important, but blind consistency is a trap.

It’s clear that consistency paired with shaking things up is a formula for progress. Kobe Bryant showed up every day to train, but he varied his routine focusing on mid-range shots, lay-ups, footwork, pivot jabs and turnaround shots. Heston Blumenthal experimented in the kitchen to come up with wild and innovative cooking techniques. Thomas Edison ran 10,000 tests before finally landing on a lightbulb design that worked. All of these high performers consistently showed up, but each day looked a little different.

Conventional wisdom says that:

[Consistency] x [Time] = Results

But the reality is more nuanced:

[Consistency of Effort + Inconsistency of Action] x [Time] = Results

Consistent effort, inconsistent action.

Consistent inconsistency is the approach of scientists who hypothesise, artists who dabble, entrepreneurs who pivot, chefs who experiment, musicians who tinker and designers who play. The best performers in the world are iterators. They’ve learned the secret to working smarter, not blindly working harder.

I don’t think there’s a single formula to success but so far my experience has taught me this: don’t do the same thing every day and expect to see results. Instead, decide what you want in life and make experimentation your mantra. Be consistently inconsistent, and see where life takes you.

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