I have been writing this newsletter once a week, without fail, since January 2017.
When I started out on this journey, I told myself that it needed to be consistent in order to gain an audience and engage readers. I knew that the length and topics could vary, and sometimes I could allow myself to âphone inâ the intro if needed, but it had to be bankable.
As a result, Friends of Dave, gets published and delivered to your inbox at the same time, on the same day of the week â consistently.
Sometimes I get it done and get a good night sleep. A lot of times it can be like the all nighters we all used to pull in college.
But it is consistent.
My family knows what to expect as the end of the week rolls around. I know what to expect when I write it. To a certain extent you know what to expect when you get it.
Thatâs why the majority of Friends who get the email come back every week and open it, read it, and click on the links.
We love consistency, donât we? In a crazy world, consistency makes things easy to forecast, helps you manage your expectations and makes life less risky and more predictable.
While diversity may make life interesting, itâs consistency that is comforting.
Think about it â thereâs a reason why people smile when they imagine things like âMomâs Apple Pie.â It was the same smell every time you walked into the house when an apple pie was being baked. You can remember the distinct sweetness of the brown sugar, the tartness of the baked apples and the flaky texture of the crust.
ConsistentâŠ..ComfortingâŠ.
We like our coffee consistent.
We like the weather to be consistent.
We like our investments to be consistent.
We like our sights, sounds and smells of home to be consistent.
We like people to be consistent too.
In business, show me someone who has potential to be a top performer one year but may have the potential to be a crap performer the next and I will show you someone who can be a management challenge for most leaders.
Sure the upside to these people can be exciting. But the downside risk can be exhausting.
Give me a steady performer who shows up every day, gives the same amount of effort, which produces the same trajectory of results accompanied by the same amount of minimal predictable hassle, and I will show you someone with a good reputation and career longevity.
Hereâs the thing: people who are consistent are bankable. They create very little đđ©. They just do their job, make outcomes predictable and are a managerâs dream because they allow them to worry about other things and people. This is especially true if they always do their job and perform at high level or their results are incrementally better everytime.
Fact is: consistent people are comforting.
So what does this mean?
For one thing, remember that if you are able to produce a favorable outcome it is good, but doing it consistently is GREAT. It is bankable. People will know to expect. They will value what you do and who you are because it comforting.
It means we should probably stress a lot less on pushing to be the hero and over-delivering for others from time to time. Yes, being an occasional hero who saves the day strokes our ego and makes us feel good in the moment. We just need to acknowledge that this wonât be sustainable if it canât be done consistently.
There is long term value in simply improving in small increments while doing your job, in whatever role and in whatever context that may be, every day. The funny thing is this can be heroic in of itself because it takes discipline, dedication and drive â and that can be hard to do even if it isnât flashy.
But by doing so, you are stable, bankable and consistent. And that is comforting to people.
So if you find yourself wondering how you can make a positive, lasting impact with others â whether it be at work, on a team or in your personal life â start by putting an emphasis on making people around you more comfortable by being consistentâŠ
And with thatâŠ.we are getting ready to put April behind usâŠ.and, Friends, to quote 90âs boy band NâSync (which is not something I consistently do), itâs hard to believe itâs gonna be May.
Have a good one.
XOXO
Dave
And now a few things to make you smarterâŠ
The U.S. is the worldâs second-largest exporter, just behind China. In 2022 alone, America exported some $2.1 trillion, accounting for 8.4% of global exports.
In this graphic by OnDeck, you can see the U.S. state that each country receives the most exports from, using data from the U.S. International Trade Administration.
Here are a few ways restaurants use their menus to influence what youâre having for dinner.
âThe big question about how people behave is whether theyâve got an Inner Scorecard or an Outer Scorecard. It helps if you can be satisfied with an Inner Scorecard.â
Warren Buffett worries less about impressing others. When you have an internal scorecard, no one can define success for you but you.
The long, strange saga of government cheese.