I wanted to be Seth Godin.

Well, not literally. But I’ve aspired to be someone who writes and publishes online every single day as he does. Or perhaps be like Leo Babauta, who ships blog posts weekly at Zen Habits. I’ve romanticized the idea of following a fixed publishing cadence, thinking it proves I’m a “committed, legitimate creator.”

“Don’t break the chain” and “Never skip two days in a row” are popular advice for creators trying to build a habit of regularly shipping.

But what happens when you do break the chain?

If you’re like me, who tends to be too hard on yourself, breaking the chain and skipping two days in a row builds even more resistance. It can feel like I don’t have what it takes to be an actual creator. And instead of moving forward and picking up where I left off, I’d wallow and beat myself up for not being consistent and committed enough. The result? Weeks or months of radio silence before I even try creating again.

We read and hear a lot about the value of staying consistent and sticking with publishing schedules but not so much about the importance of forgiving ourselves when we fall short.

The secret to being consistent is self-compassion.

Because if we can be compassionate with ourselves and our initial inconsistency while we have yet to create momentum, we can forgive ourselves and keep trying until we build a habit.

“Don’t await the perfection of Plato’s Republic, but be satisfied with even the smallest step forward and regard the outcome as a small thing.”

— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

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Trying (And Failing) To Post Consistently? Read This.

“Don’t break the chain” and “Never skip two days in a row” are popular advice for creators. But here’s the real secret to consistency.