Let’s Try This Consistency Thing Again

This week’s blog isn’t going to be about a book. Come back next week if you want my take on a really good book. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention an important book this week because quite frankly, the ONLY reason I am writing is because of what I read in Atomic Habits.

Backstory:

I’m reading Atomic Habits for the Okinawa Leadership Seminar monthly book club. It was highly recommended, so our Director of Curriculum chose it for our July book, and I am so glad she did. Sometimes the timing of books, shows, comments, or even a blog is exactly what you need to make a shift.

What Did the Book Say:

I haven’t finished James Clear’s book, but the most impactful thing that I have read so far is: “the most practical way to change who you are is to change what you do.”

Consistency:

I started running pretty consistently almost 20 years ago. Someone once told me that I didn’t do anything consistently. The statement hurt my feelings, but he truth-of-the-matter is that the statement WAS a true statement. As a military spouse, I get a new job every two years. I redecorate my home every two years. I pick up and drop hobbies every two years. The ONLY thing that I did over and over again, and the only thing that I took with me from duty station to duty station was my running, and I wanted to prove that I could be consistent. In 2017, I did a run streak to prove to myself that I was capable of being consistent, and it was one of the most impactful things that I have ever done.

Then, April 26, 2020, I started this blog. For over a year, I wrote every single week. I was finally consistently doing something other than running. I enjoyed the process of putting out content instead of just taking it in. I love social media. I love books. I love podcasts, and I spend a lot of time taking in content and not a lot of time putting out content. However, in 2020 and 2021, I was finally becoming a writer. Now, mind-you, I am not claiming to be a good writer, and not many people actually read the blog, but just like running, if you run, you are a runner. I was writing every week so I was becoming a writer. It doesn’t matter if you run ultras or a mile a day. It doesn’t matter if you are winning races or just showing up for your jog around the block. It doesn’t matter if you are writing NY Times best sellers or if you are writing a weekly blog. If you are out there doing it, you are it! By writing once a week, I was becoming a writer, and it felt good.

A little bit about me…

Why Quit?

We all take time-outs. We all get creative with excuses. Some runners get injured, bored, or burned out. As a blog writer, I quit writing because nothing felt interesting. I came up with other excuses, but the reality is: I got lazy. I didn’t feel like writing. My excuse was: Why write about the boring stuff?

That’s the thing about consistency: we have to do it even when we don’t want to. We run when it is blazing hot outside. We even throw in some “junk” miles. As a writer, I need to show up every week, even when I’d rather do other things. It’s likely that some of the blog posts may end up being “junk” posts, and that’s ok. The consistency in the writing is far more important than writing an intriguing post every week. It’s not always the content that matters; sometimes just showing up matters. When I consistently show up week after week, I prove to myself that I am capable of being consistent with something OTHER than running, so I am going to give this another shot. See you next Monday.