The Consistency Mindset Shift Every Solopreneur Needs to Hear | 117

Do you feel like you're constantly failing at consistency, always starting over, always falling behind, always not doing enough?

In this episode, I'm redefining what consistency actually means for solopreneurs juggling real life, and why the version you've been measuring yourself against was never realistic to begin with.

What You'll Learn:

• Why the standard definition of consistency is setting you up to feel like you're failing
• What it actually looks like to stay consistent when life keeps getting in the way
• The missing piece that makes strategic consistency possible even after a long break

If you've been stuck in an all-or-nothing consistency cycle, this is the episode that's going to finally give you a way out.

---

🔗 Free Workshop: https://cheerstoproductivity.com/3steps?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=free_workshop&utm_content=ep117

Ep. 30: Do You Really Need to Be on Every Social Media Platform?

Connect with Lucy:

✨ Join My Free Community: https://cheerstoproductivity.com/community-invite

Show Notes: https://cheerstoproductivity.com/podcast/ 

Transcript

Speaker 0:00

If you feel like you just can't seem to stay consistent in your business, like you're always starting and stopping or you're feeling scattered and just really trying to get back on track, all of the fricking time you have been thinking about consistency all wrong, and it's probably costing you more than you think.

Speaker 3 0:22

Hey, I am Lucy Reyes. Welcome to the podcast where we make productivity feel doable and aligned with practical tips to help you manage your task, streamline your systems, and stay consistent in a way that honors your energy, your faith, and your real life capacity. If that sounds like something you need, then hit subscribe and let's jump in.

Speaker 0:43

in this video I'm going to show you what consistency actually looks like, especially as you're running a business, juggling all these other priorities in your life and your work and your business. Because yeah, you are juggling a lot and life is so unpredictable and so yes, there is a way to stay consistent through it all. But before we dive in, be sure to head to the link in the show notes or description, wherever you're listening from, to sign up for my free workshop, where I'll teach you the three steps to say goodbye to task overload. So let's start with just calling out some of the reasons why you think that you were not consistent. Most people assume that the problem with consistency is something like, "I don't have enough time," which assumes that you're waiting for more time to appear or for a better season of life. You might be thinking, "I just need to focus more," which means you really believe that it's a discipline issue which is probably not the case, which we'll talk about, but "I need to focus more" is putting it on yourself that you are lacking discipline. "I am just too distracted." One of the most popular posts going on in my new free community is this post around distractions. Everyone seems to know what their distractions are and what they're getting distracted by, and how it's just so hard. It is so hard. But this means that you're blaming on your attention, your lack of focus instead of the structure that is running your life and business. And then another one that I hear a lot is just, you know, "Life is too unpredictable." There's just so many curve balls, there's so many things going on, which makes consistency feel like it's only possible when things are calm, predictable, steady, and while all of this definitely feels true and they're entirely valid, none of those are actually the root of the problem as to why you're not consistent with, fill in the blank, whatever it is that you're lacking consistency is. These beliefs only exists because this is how you've been taught to define consistency. This is what we have been told as a society, as entrepreneurs as anybody in the workspace, at school, that consistency can only exist if we are doing all of the things "consistently." Right? So you are measuring yourself against something that actually feels impossible, which is no wonder why your consistency mindset is like, "Whoa! I'm not consistent. I'm not consistent." When really that's not the case. You have been measuring consistency in a way that doesn't actually fit your life, okay? You have been taught that consistency means that you are doing something every single day, so taking some sort of daily action, right? So we have heard it as online entrepreneurs that you need to post multiple times on Pinterest a day or 10 tiktoks, or write a blog post every single week, or release a new podcast episode every single week. Like we have been told that we must do something every so period of time. We have been told that consistency is this perfect routine, right? Which is essentially the same thing. It's this perfect routine that, "I am going to sit here and every Monday I'm going to record a new episode for my podcast," which that's not the case. Not even for me. That is not the case. But that would be like the perfect routine, right? It would be me saying, "Every Monday, this is what I'm gonna do and I'm gonna do it no matter what." And then we don't do it and then we feel bad. We feel bad, or the opposite is true where you're like, "No, this is it. This is it. I said that this is the routine. I'm gonna do it." And now you're like really trying to force yourself to do it just because you wanna stay consistent, quote unquote, "consistent." And then it's also taught us that we have to show up even if we don't feel motivated, even if we feel tired. And we're just, you know, we're not about that life over here. So this version of consistency that we have been taught assumes that our schedules are stable and unpredictable. It assumes that we have this consistent energy, which we do not. Our energy fluctuates depending on all of the things going on in our lives and our bodies, in our jobs and our businesses. Our energy fluctuates, right? Depending on how much rest we get. And this definition of consistency also assumes that we have no interruptions, no distractions, everything is going perfectly, and none of us have a perfect life. None of us. Perfection does not actually exist. So the reality is that your life is dynamic. Things are constantly changing, including your capacity and interruptions and disruptions are just normal. They're part of life. So we need to redefine what consistency actually means when you're trying to measure up against what consistency means for you as a solopreneur juggling all of these different things in your real life. So here is my definition, my version of what consistency actually means, and that's to actually follow through even when life isn't perfect. We've talked about it. Life is not perfect. We are not perfect and so we can't expect that consistency will look perfect, but it means that we are going to continue to follow through. And consistency is not daily posting, hourly posting, sticking to a rigid schedule or routine, and it's also not doing what everyone else says is consistent, right? Consistency actually is showing up at a pace that works for you and you're adjusting that pace depending on your capacity. You might one week feel super energized and have a mostly clear calendar, and you're like, "You know what? I'm going to batch record three episodes this week." Great, great. And the next week you go back down to one. Awesome. The next week something happens in your life and you take the whole week off. Awesome. I'm proud of you for taking the week off and not pushing through. Don't feel bad about these things that quote unquote, are "not consistent." Okay? Consistency means that you show up at a pace that works for you. You adjust based on your capacity, and then you continue to stay connected in your business and your life and your work and whatever you want to be consistent for over time. Okay? It means you don't just completely give up and walk away forever. Of course that means you're not consistent 'cause you never came back. But consistency means you keep coming back and your pace can change. Week to week, day by day, it might be slower during some harder seasons, and that's okay. That is okay. That is perfectly normal, and we really need to get to a place as a society that normalizes these slower seasons, then these changing seasons. And then you have to also acknowledge that your pace can change later in a good way. You can pick back up later, right? Just because your pace slowed down for one season doesn't mean it's always gonna stay slow. And the, the the, what is it? The opposite is true. If your pace has been to go, go, go. A lot of the times has been me. I'm like a go, go, go type of person. So when I tend to slow down, then my body starts to feel a little bit weird. But that's where I have to give myself grace and know that my pace can change depending on the circumstances happening in my life and my business and it's the same for you too. And as a solopreneur specifically, you cannot do everything. You cannot do everything. And if you don't have any help, because you know you are a solopreneur, maybe you have just an assistant helping you with some light admin. Maybe occasionally you hire a contractor to help you with certain things in your business, like a copywriter or graphic designer, but you yourself cannot do everything by yourself. There's a lot to do. We have so many things that we need to do, so there's no way that we can be on all the time in all of the places. We do not need to be everywhere. And actually there is an episode I recorded a while back, so I'll link to that in the description where I specifically talk about social media 'cause social media seems to be one of those things that so many of us, especially when we're new to business, we're told that we need to be in all of these places. And we try and we really, really, really try. And that gets us nowhere because one, we're not learning the platforms. Two, we get demotivated because we haven't learned the platforms, but we're still trying to post in all of the places. And then three, we really start to give up and go downhill because the things don't seem to be working. So you do not need to be everywhere. You don't need to do everything, and you don't need to be "on" all of the time, especially if you are trying to manage this business mostly solo. So strategic consistency means that you're showing up in the right places for you, the right places that actually make sense for you. Pinterest is not gonna work for everybody. Podcasting is not gonna work for everybody. There's so many things that are not gonna work for everybody, and even if it does, it doesn't mean that you need to do it right now. So you're not just chasing trends, you're really looking inward to see what you can actually handle and what makes sense with your business. And when those two things intersect, then that's when you can actually move forward and try to gain some consistency in that area and really looking at your capacity and the pace to know how much of all of the things you handle right and missing time doing something you miss a week from posting. You miss... whatever. You miss something, it does not mean that you failed. Okay? Skipping time doesn't break your entire business. Taking breaks doesn't mess up your growth. Like, yeah. If I were to, for example, say YouTube and podcasting, that is my thing. If I were to actually stay consistent and post every single week or even twice a week, which is the recommended by some experts, twice a week, yeah, of course my growth would be faster. But then at that point, for me, myself, knowing myself and my circumstances and my business and my life. I know that that would be pushing me to this level of burnout that I am not all about, and it would mean prioritizing these things over something else in my business, which that's when I have to choose what am I gonna prioritize? What is my priority? And so sometimes it means I miss a week or two and in other cases I've missed months. And then I come back. I come back. And that is key. That is key. Missing time. Taking breaks, slowing down does not mean that you have failed, and it does not mean that you have to start all the way over. Okay. I can come back three weeks later and just pick up and record a new video. All my systems are in place. I can just literally come back whenever, and that's okay. So your progress is still compounding, right? Yes. Maybe it slows down if you miss a day or a week or a month or whatever. But it's still compounding. All of the work that you have done previously still helps you in some way or another. If it's not directly with traffic or sales, then at least you learn something from it. At least you gained the experience to whatever was that thing that you did, whether it was, you gained the experience on what it's like to run a flash sale to your shop, you gained the experience on what it was like to have this launch event, even though you haven't done it. So for example, for me, I have always wanted to run a summit every single year. Right now my pace seems to be every two years, and that makes this year my every two years. So it means I'm due for another summit. And even though I would like to have done this on a yearly basis, and my audience is always like, "Yes, please host another one." I, at least, have the past experience of these summits that I can't undo this past experience. It's already something I've gained that I can still take on with me into the next one. And all of that counts too. All of that counts too. And those are things that we tend to dismiss, that we tend to forget about and not give ourselves credit for. You need to give yourself credit where credit is due and you, I bet you are not giving yourself a lot of grace and a lot of credit for the things that you have done and achieved in your business. Whew. I feel like that was a whole rant that I was not planning on going on, but let's move on. Because there is a part that does not get talked about often, and it's why, even though you may have heard this before about consistency, and maybe you really believe this definition that I just gave you about consistency, but you're like, "Lucy, it still feels hard." I know this. I've heard this. You've said it to me before. It is still hard to show up and be consistent. You can still sit down and feel stuck. You still lose momentum quickly. You still feel like you're constantly starting over. And if that is the case for you, that means that there's one key, big, huge thing that is still missing. Strategic consistency doesn't just happen on its own, and it's not just a mindset shift. Yes, that is step one. First, if you're here, and you've never heard this before, this is what I need you to believe. I need you to change your consistency mindset. But if you are already there and you're still feeling like you're not consistent or like it's so hard for you to be even this level of strategic consistent, then you are missing a strategic simple system to support the level of consistency that you want to achieve. Like I said, I can take months off, which I have from the podcast and come back six months later, and pick right back up where I left off because my system supports it. Without systems, you are relying on your own memory to remember all of the steps. "Wait, how? How do I post? How do I publish the podcast? What tools would I use? Wait, where's my outline? Wait, what?" Like you rely on your memory versus just coming into the system that already holds everything for you. You are relying on just you getting motivated instead of just seeing the system in front of you with everything laid out. Because it is much more motivating when you don't, when you know you don't have to start over. Right? So that in itself is motivating. And without it, you are trying to figure everything out all over again from the start and that is not fun. That is not fun, and it is extremely time consuming. It wastes so much more time than you might think. And I've said it before, time is money. All of these time wasters that you could have saved by having a system, and now you're having to repeat the things that's money you could have made somewhere else by doing something else or prioritizing something else, but, I digress because in the next episode is when we're actually gonna talk about the kind of system that actually makes this level of consistency possible. But for right now, at least, you're leaving with knowing the true meaning, the true definition of a consistency, and what it looks like or can look like for you as a solopreneur, juggling life, and all of the things. And this shift alone changes how you show up in your business in your day to day. You're letting go of this all or nothing mindset, feeling like you have to go all in or you're just all the way out. You let go of the guilt when things don't go perfectly according to plan. And you let go of the pressure to always be everywhere, to always be on, to always show up, to always say yes. And you start to pick things back up more easily after you get interrupted, after you've taken long breaks, you release that pressure to do everything, especially in busy seasons. And you start to make progress and accept your progress and celebrate your progress without needing the most perfect conditions. So if you are ready to take all of this a step further, then I really want to invite you to grab or check out my free workshop where I'll guide you through the three steps to say goodbye to task overload and to make a follow through easier. You'll leave with clear priorities, less overwhelm, and knowing what to focus on next. The link is on the description. All right, friend. I am so happy that you stuck around to join me to really get yourself out of this older consistency mindset and into the new way of thinking. Be sure to subscribe wherever you're listening. Check out the link in the show notes for this free workshop and come back next week when we're gonna dive deeper into the type of system that can really, truly help you actually stay strategically consistent. Thank you so much for listening to the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast with me, Lucy Reyes. To view the full transcript and all the links mentioned in today's episode, visit cheerstoproductivity.com/podcast. And before you go up, make sure you follow or subscribe wherever you're listening so that you know once the next productive chat is released. Talk soon and cheers to your productivity and success!