The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur

January 7Consistency Brings Trust

They must be the poor creature that does not often repeat themselves. Imagine the author of the excellent piece of advice, “Know thyself,” never alluding to that sentiment again during the course of a protracted existence! Why, the truths a person carries about are their tools; and do you think a carpenter is bound to use the same plane but once to smooth a knotty board with, or to hang up their hammer after it has driven its first nail?

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.—The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table (1858)

The key to success is to do things others aren't willing to do and to do them over and over again.

That may not sound like advice for one intent on becoming a headline-making overnight success, but it is terribly sound advice for one intent on making a long-term impact on some corner of the universe.

Your unfailing word is how you let people know you mean it. Your reliable deed is how you lead others. Your constant practice is how you master your journey.

It is likely you will grow tired of expressing your truth long before even a trifle of those who most need it will ever experience it.

Today, tell your story, express your truth, enlist others in that story, and never stop sharing some version of it.

Consistency—showing up again and again and doing what you promised you would do from the start—is the hallmark of one to whom trust is extended.

Challenge Question

1. Can you describe one positive habit that has served you through consistent ...