Last night, my Apple Watch notified me that I have completed my movement goal (burning 400 calories) per day for 30 days in a row. This means for the past 30 days I have done at least one workout during the day.
I have done jumping jacks and burpees at 11:45 p.m. in an AirBNB at the Outer Banks.
I have jumped on my mini trampoline and hopped off to do kettlebell swings long after I wanted to go to bed…simply to avoid breaking my streak.
While this isn’t the Crossfit Games or the Olympic Trials, it does indeed feel like a bit of a triumph.
This has lead me to a conclusion about my own fitness—it doesn’t really matter what I am doing for my workout, the key is just to be consistent.
Yes, I am a recent convert to the belief that:
Consistency > Intensity
Don’t get me wrong, intensity is required for any major feat, but when you are trying to get in the habit of marketing your business–Consistency will be a better friend.
I have seen so many business owners charge forward with a great, comprehensive plan to start ALLTHETHINGS!
They want to simultaneously create a new YouTube channel, and post every day on social, and get a podcast up and running and grow their email list at the same time, and, and, and…
When I hear complex plans like this, I think: DISASTER!
I have watched plenty of people start with the best of intentions, only to set it all aside (and feel defeated!) when things get busy. Heck, I have done this myself.
What people often miss when they are thinking of marketing their business is that there are typically quite a few steps involved in marketing through any marketing channel.
For example, if you want to start a podcast, you would need to purchase a microphone, learn how to edit audio, learn how to create a decent podcast, figure out how to upload the podcast to iTunes (etc.), then figure out how to get people to even know it exists.
This one channel requires many steps, and many steps that you probably haven’t done before.
Yes–but how can I move forward and stick with it?
Sebastian Marshall of UltraWorking has an exercise where you track 10 daily habits that ON YOUR WORST DAY, you could still achieve. Like your day was so bad you came home from work and ate a pizza, guzzled wine and fell asleep watching tv…BAD!
For our purposes, I would love for you to consider what marketing activities you could still implement on your worst week.
Even if everything blew up, could you still:Send out an email to your list?Post a blog on your website?Create a couple social media posts?Write an article for your LinkedIn or Medium account?
How could you put one habit into place that you wouldn’t break? Writer James Clear and Olympic athlete Lanny Bassham both agree that one of the biggest “levers” you have in reaching your goals is identifying as the type of person who achieves that goal. (This is so so big!)
If you can create a new marketing habit, and stick with it, then you become the “kind of business owner who writes a new LinkedIn article every Tuesday” or whatever your new habit becomes.
This habit becomes part of your self identity.
To move forward let’s pick a marketing habit that plays to your strengths. Pick the one that you don’t have crazy resistance around, then figure out what your new habit will be.
Let’s get that streak going!
Warmly,
Amy
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