why you're inconsistent

read this first

this newsletter is a bit shorter than usual for 2 key reasons:

(1) i’ve been working on my video all day & didn’t leave enough energy in the tank to write a lot.

(2) the lesson is so, so simple — but you still need to hear it.

the lesson

if you’ve consumed anything i put out on the internet, you probably know how much i talk about consistency.

it’s the one trait that every successful person i know (& know of) has in common.

Charlie Munger once said that you can do everything else wrong, but if you stay consistent, you still might be successful.

that’s how important it is.

& yet, it’s also been one of the hardest skills for me to learn.

chances are, the same is true for you.

so what is it that makes consistency look so easy for some people, while the rest of us are stuck in these constant loops of motivation & stagnation?

why do you know what you need to do, but still can’t bring yourself to do it?

is there something wrong with you?

after years of searching, i think i found the answer.

it’s really dumb.

it came from a man named Sharran Srivatsaa, who grew his company to a 1 billion dollar valuation, sold it, & then grew another company to a 1 billion dollar valuation.

simply put, the guy seems to know a thing or two about showing up every day & getting shit done that we don’t.

wanna know what he does to stay consistent?

never start a day without knowing what you’re gonna do.

that’s it.

i told you it was simple.

be honest for a sec — when you woke up this morning, what was the first thing you did?

if you’re like i was, you probably checked your phone in bed for longer than you would’ve liked to.

then you got up, maybe ate something & freshened up, & then you killed whatever time was left until you had to go to work or school.

by the time the evening rolls around, you look back at your day & wonder what you even did.

you wish you had more time & energy to do what you want to do — things like working on that project you love, or creating something, or starting that business, or seeing your friends.

but the day is already gone.

you need to go to bed, & so you do, but you kinda feel like shit because you just spent another day putting your dreams off until tomorrow.

that’s the vicious cycle of mediocrity.

do nothing. achieve nothing. simple as that.

so, using Srivatsaa’s advice, let’s look at what a better version of that day could look like.

i’ll use my day yesterday as an example.

i woke up, & my phone was in another room, so i didn’t check it.

i had nothing to do in bed, so i got up & went straight to my daily journal/tracker.

i took a glance at my weekly goals + events, then answered 5 questions:

1. what work needs to be done today?

2. how will i exercise?

3. what will i eat?

4. when & how will i relax?

5. when am i going to sleep?

within less than 2 minutes, i had an exact, step by step playbook on how to make today a good one.

all this stuff might seem small, but when you compare the 2 days i just talked about, it’s pretty clear to see why Srivatsaa’s approach works.

it’s foolproof.

as much as people like us crave freedom, we also need some sort of structure to do anything consistently.

like Jocko always says, discipline = freedom.

& the only way you can stay disciplined is if you have absolute certainty about what you must or must not do.

that’s why answering those 5 questions first thing in the morning (or last thing the night before) has been a massive unlock for me.

i hope it can do the same for you.

never start a day without knowing what you’re gonna do.

some stuff i learned

1. young people are drinking way less
   today, only about half of 18-34 y/o’s say they drink. that number was over 70% in the early 2000s! as a 24 y/o who almost never drinks, i’ve been contributing to this decline without knowing. obviously, COVID must’ve played a big role. but the reason i still don’t drink much now is the same reason i don’t touch other drugs: i have better things to do with my time. i feel happier when i do things that my future self would be proud of. intoxication does the opposite. i wonder if the trend comes from other 18-24 y/o’s who feel the same.

2. you might have Brain Fag Syndrome
   it’s a real thing, i swear. use this knowledge wisely.

3. a useful trick i can’t believe i didn’t know
   you can just type docs.new or sheets.new or forms.new into your browser & it will immediately open a new Google doc, sheet, or form. thanks to @SinaHartung on X for this!

cool stuff i found

1. an interesting survey that shows trends of U.S. adults’ acceptance of different morals & behaviours
   i don’t have any opinions on these trends for you, i just think stuff like this is interesting to see.

2. a Parisian street artist, who uses chalk & water to create some of the most satisfying patterns i’ve seen
   his name is Jordane Saget — here’s an example if you don’t wanna click a link:

   

3. one of my favourite tweets of all time

   

bonus: a nostalgic song i’m listening to

Shine A Light by BANNERS

for anybody who played FIFA around 2014-2017, this is one of the classic soundtrack bangers. IYKYK. even if you didn’t play, the song is still great.

that’s all for this week’s edition of morning wood!

as always, thank you for tuning in.

there’s been a lot of new people signing up for this recently (welcome!), so i’m doing my best to make sure every edition is full of things that are fun & useful for you.

go & win this week.

~ liam (:

PS — if you’re interested in working with me 100% free to help get unstuck & build a life you love, click here to fill out a quick survey & i’ll reach out to you ASAP if it seems like we’ll be a good fit together. i love working with people 1 on 1 & it seems to be helping a lot, so i want to take more people on.

PPS — check your junk/spam folders in your email! sometimes messages from unknown senders get put there automatically.