I struggle with consistency. I do. It’s harming my business as well. I know I need to be working on my blog, filming videos, and developing recipes, but I’m not. I don’t have the money to pay people to do it either, so the inconsistency hinders my progress as an entrepreneur. I also need to be building my social media presence and marketing my business online better, but I’m inconsistent there too.
That part—the lack of quality marketing—is really screwing up my ability to get my message out there. My target audience is men. Specifically, middle-aged fathers who used to be in shape, got off track because of family commitments, and now struggle to get back in shape. Those are my clients, and when I reach them, they tend to sign up and do rather well. However, have you seen my followers on Instagram? Apart from friends, nearly all my followers are women who happen to already be health nuts or health coaches themselves. That’s fine. I love my followers and have some great interactions with them. I learn a lot from them and get some influence on how to build my own online presence, but they’re not my target clientele. I need to be more consistent in my messaging and advertising to reach my target audience.
I struggle with keeping my attention long term. I’ll be good for a couple of days, then trail off. Or if I’m not getting any good ideas, I’ll leave my work on the table and do something else. Or if I’ve had a busy day with my family or other job, I’ll just have a beer and play Zelda to de-stress when I could be writing this post.
I keep telling myself that I need to get on this and work harder to build my brand, but I don’t. It’s a real struggle to get myself motivated sometimes. Heck, even when I do set time aside to work on it, something gets in the way.
It’s weird, though. I’m not that way with other things. When it comes to my family, I’m always there when they need me. I never miss a workout, and I consistently eat healthy. So why is this so hard? If I’m going to be honest, I don’t know. Now that I’m writing this, I’m starting to think it’s not really a consistency issue, but how I’ve lined up my priorities.
My family comes first. They always have and always will. That’s something that will never change. After that, I put my health a very close second, and I’ve never been shy about resting or even withdrawing from projects if my health is deteriorating as a result. Maybe that’s why.
To this point in my life, I’ve always been an employee, not an employer. So taking time off work for my family or health didn’t affect my income or employment status. Maybe I need to learn that by putting my business first every once in a while, I’m actually putting my family first because I’m making more for us.
Why haven’t I thought of that earlier? Shit… that’s advice I give to my clients. I just realized I struggle with the exact same thing they do. Many of my clients struggle to get their health on track because they prioritize their family and work above their health. I even say that putting their health first allows them to be there for their family longer.
I guess I’ve got some learning to do.
That’s why we’re in the business, though, to learn from our clients as well. That’s the beauty of working in education and counseling: all our students and clients give us new insights and nuance to struggles we may be having as well. I was always taught that empathy can be one of the best qualities a human can have. I think that’s what I need here to solve my consistency issue. Empathizing with my clients, who have the same consistency issues I do, could help find the keys to both our solutions.