Why do we have to be SO consistent? (I asked ChatGPT)

by Nan Patience

Plus tips for improving consistency.

The number one thing you hear around the creative economy, ecommerce, and social media platforms when you ask how to please the algorithms is this idea of consistency.

Consistency is key. It’s basic. It’s foundational.

We might ask why. Given how hard most people find consistency to be, we should probably ask why it’s so darn important for humans to be consistent.

Why is consistency in humans so important? I asked ChatGPT directly

Yes, I went straight to the source and asked ChatGPT (OpenAI).

We talked, we laughed, we lost five pounds!

You can read the short interaction between me and ChatGPT on this question at this link but you don’t have to because I’ll include key ideas below.

How consistent are YOU?

Are you consistent with everything in your life?

Consistency comes up a lot in parenting. I’ve had a quarter century of experience right there. Consistency is grounding; chaos is hard. There are times when dang-nabbit, we may not feel like doing something, but we just have to, and so we do.

When it comes to creative projects like writing and making art, sometimes I am consistent, and sometimes I’m not, which I suppose is the very definition of inconsistent haha!

Showing up to work regularly, even if we’re students or we work from home or work a remote job, is vital to keeping projects alive and building them.

If you don’t believe it’s important, try staying on task and being consistent for a while and see what happens. Over time, your efforts will show positive trends, at least in the area you’re being consistent about. Once you see that, you want more. You may try even harder.

Consistency helps us know what to expect over time and makes the world a more predictable place (per ChatGPT).

There’s just one small thing: we’re human. Humans are wild. We’re supposed to be wandering the hillsides hunting and gathering. We’re a life form, connected to the Earth’s biosystems to survive. Many, many things go into how we feel from day to day and from hour to hour about things that we’re doing all at the same time.

It’s easy for machines to be consistent. They only need energy and data. A mere spark can set off a long chain of events.

For A.I., seeking to understand the world that it’s being born into, inconsistency is hard. As artificial intelligence gets stronger, it will be able to handle a wider range of inconsistency. But for right now, it needs a home with structure in order to function.

Consistency for humans

Humans are not as consistent as machines. Stuff happens. Maybe we’re busy being consistent with one thing and something else falls behind. Some of us are running a three-ring circus on the daily.

Sometimes we get distracted, or the sun comes out, or we have to run an errand. Don’t beat yourself up too much.

Consistency is something we can work on. It’s about building small habits, making decisions, and taking action.

Superhuman consistency is what we’re up against in virtual reality. To get in the game and stay in it, don’t imagine it’s easy! The good news is, people are doing it.

Get better at being consistent through consistency challenges and routines

Consistency can be a real challenge!

Have you ever tried doing a consistency challenge, like a 100-day challenge? I have! The first day of a challenge is fun. The second day is a little less fun, and by the end of the first week, if you’re still doing it at all, it will feel heavy.

I recommend challenges. You end up getting something done and pushing yourself out of the comfort zone a little. For example, last summer I challenged myself to write a poem a day.

OK, maybe I didn’t write a poem every single day last summer, but I wrote enough for a book of 36 love poems, and with black and white photo collage illustrations to boot (blog post: Love is in the air).

Benefits of a consistency challenge

• Challenges help stop perfectionism. Because at one point, it is pencils down, ship it, send it.

• It forces us through a process until the ideas, habits and tasks are (sort of) mastered.

• With consistency, the world can be more predictable and stable.

• Opportunities to learn lessons! For example, now I know that to last all the way to the end of a 100-day challenge, I’d better keep the task fun and small.

  Never, ever underestimate the challenges of consistency!

Good routines

Routines can help eliminate a lot of chaos and paralysis that get in the way of consistency, I find. If it weren’t for my morning routine, for example, there would have been many more days of getting nothing done.

So there’s my take on consistency and a couple of tools to get better at it. I hope that helps, and now I’ve gotta go work on my consistency.

~ Nan

P.S. Consistency is only one metric in life. Life has so many more metrics to think about. Check out my related blog post about how to check our online metrics dashboards without falling to pieces.

P.S.S. Keep scrolling down to browse other recent posts, like “Love is in the air…”

What happens in live chat …

I'm in a live chat right now with a group of e-commerce people. The rule is what happens in live chat stays in live chat, so unfortunately I can't reveal what is being said.

But I can say there seems to have been a shift among the giant platforms, and Gen Z is making a tremendous impact.