Consistency and Constraint

Had a fantastic weekend in Tahoe - although expectations ended up greatly outweighing reality.

After calling for 50+ inches of snow, we got something like 3 inches…

of rain.

Talk about an absolute kick in the shorts.

Not to mention we got a few feet of new snow here in Park City while I was gone. I guess that’s what I get for rubbing it in my friends’ faces that Tahoe was going to get smoked - Karma is a b*tch, Ted.

Moral of the story…. just never leave town, ever. Even if there’s a fire.

I might even go as far as to start booking fake flights to random places. Maybe that’ll trick the universe into thinking I’m leaving and we’ll get dumped on. (working theory..)

Anyway…

Something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately is the relationship between consistency and constraint.

Not necessarily related things at first glance.

But in my life, they are - so let’s explore.

I’m not going to define the terms like the opener to every 8th-grade essay ever written, so hopefully, the audience can figure that piece out. I believe in you.

So, is it good to be consistent?

I would venture to guess the common answer there is yes.

But, it should really be equally .. no.

Why?

Well because consistency has to be pegged to something. A metric, a benchmark, a threshold. It can’t just be blindly “good.”

You could just as easily be consistently.. bad. Right?

“Well at least he’s consistent” whispers every coach to his assistant as the same kid repeatedly fcks the same thing up every time*

Ya know? If you consistently hit around the Mendoza line, yes you are consistent, but chances are you won’t have a job very long.

So how does it relate to constraint?

Well for me (at least in my world), I can’t be consistent without constraint.

In sales, you try to hit (or exceed) your quota every year. AKA be consistently.. good.

But the means by which we get there can be, and often is, very much inconsistent.

A dry spell, a sick day, a family vacation, etc etc. It’s hard to send 30 emails a day, every day, for all of eternity.

Consistency in that sense (to me) is synonymous with monotony, routine.. god forbid I say ..a RUT.

A great (non-work) example I think we’ve all experienced is that big college essay/final project. Assigned weeks, maybe even months in advance.

Do you work on it consistently?

5 pages a day for 2 weeks? 1 Slide a day for a month? Bi-weekly library visits?

HELL NO.

You push and push and procrastinate until you only have a few days left. And then, when your back’s against the wall, you put your head down and crank it out.

You’re up against a constraint. In this case, a timed deadline.

This is when I do my best work. This is when I’m the most effective. This is when I (and probably most of us) reach my maximum potential for output.

When I have a constraint.

Why?

Well, constraint eliminates all the minutia, all the non-essential “finer points”, and frankly all the bullsh*t.

What type of font to use, what color to make your slide deck, and so on, and so on, and so on.

Constraint narrows your field of view solely to the mission-critical.

It forces you to ask yourself, “What are the key elements to get whatever I’m doing.. done?”

If you never apply constraint, or are never forced to adhere to one, how do you know if the activities you’re consistently doing even are mission-critical?

How do you know which are anchored to the critical, and which are just the minutia?

Am I making any sense here?

What I mean to say, is that you should always strive to have your top-level goal consistently met.

A sales quota, a great annual review, an AUM threshold.

But the means by which you get there does not have to be consistent.

It’s okay to have periods of ineffectivity if they are met/offset by periods of maximal output (whatever that is).

You’d be surprised at how effective you really can be when your back’s up against a deadline.

It might even help you figure out what really moves the needle, and what’s just jetsam/flotsam (take your pick).

Have a great week everyone.

Kind of unrelated and tangential - but I look at it something like this:

I only have so much energy to give every week.

5 days with an energy meter equalling 100%

It is almost impossible (for me) to give a consistent and uniform 20% of that energy bar every single day.

Instead, my week might look something like this:

Monday 15%, Tuesday 10%, Wednesday 40%, Thursday 20%, Friday 15%

Yes, each day may be inconsistent, but each week remains consistent.