So, I’ve been trying this thing lately, trying to get some real consistency going. You know, day in, day out, just showing up and doing the work. Sounds simple, right? Well, it hasn’t been.
Part of my routine, or maybe procrastination, involved watching some tennis. And I kept landing on Frances Tiafoe matches. Man, that guy. Pure energy. Fun to watch, no doubt. But consistency? That felt like a whole different story. One minute he’s hitting unbelievable shots, the next, something basic goes flying. It got me thinking about this idea, this phrase kinda stuck in my head: constant tiafoe. Like, can that flair, that energy, actually be constant? Or is the inconsistency part of the package?
My Own Consistency Battle
It hit close to home, honestly. Because I was going through my own version of that. Not on a tennis court, obviously. It was about writing. I decided I was gonna write every single morning. Just sit down, put words on the page. First few days? Great. Felt amazing. Productive.
Then, life happens. You know how it is.
- One morning, the coffee machine broke. Threw my whole vibe off.
- Next day, an urgent email needed answering right away.
- Then a couple of days where I just… didn’t feel it. Stared at the blank screen. Felt like pulling teeth.
Suddenly, my ‘consistent’ writing practice looked a lot like one of Tiafoe’s matches. Flashes of brilliance (okay, maybe just competence in my case), followed by frustrating misses. I wasn’t being ‘constant’ at all. I was all over the place.
I remember this one specific week. I’d missed three days in a row. Felt like a total failure. Was ready to just scrap the whole idea. What’s the point if I can’t even stick to a simple plan? Started thinking maybe consistency, real robotic consistency, wasn’t for creatives. Or maybe just not for me.
What I Kind Of Figured Out
But then I thought back to watching Tiafoe. Even when he’s having an off game, the energy is still there. He’s still trying stuff, still engaging with the crowd, still putting himself out there. The results weren’t constant, but the effort, the approach, maybe that was the constant thing? The willingness to show up and give it a go, even if it wasn’t perfect.
So, I shifted my thinking a bit. Maybe the practice wasn’t about being perfect every day. Maybe it was just about sitting down again the next day, even after missing a few. The ‘constant’ part wasn’t the output, it was the return. The getting back to it.
It’s still a struggle, believe me. Some days are still a total write-off. But I stopped beating myself up so much. The goal now is just… keep coming back to the chair. Keep trying. Maybe that’s my version of ‘constant’. Not perfect, not always brilliant, but persistent. Like showing up for the next point, even after a double fault. It’s a practice, right? Still figuring it out.
