The Real Reason You Can’t Stay Consistent
And how to fix it.
When I decided to take my writing seriously, as a business I made one deal with myself: to stay consistent writing daily, non-negotiable.
That happened around 20th of February, 2024. And I did stay consistent writing on Medium for several months.
Until I didn’t.
June 2024 I stopped to regroup and adjust my strategy.
Why? Because Medium completely changed.
But that wasn’t the real reason.
It was my motivation.
Not all motivation is created equal.
There are two kinds:
Extrinsic motivation comes from external pressure:
your boss, your peers, your audience, your bills, your family, yourself even…The need to fix what’s standing in front of you.Intrinsic motivation comes from internal purpose:
your values, beliefs, identity, and moral compass. The need to help others, to grow, or to experience things.
Only one of them lasts.
You can push yourself with deadlines. But the minute the pressure’s gone, so is your will to continue.
That’s what happened with my writing. When Medium changed I no longer saw earnings grow, so I stopped being consistent. I realized my motivation wasn’t truly intrinsic. I was pushing myself to prove I can make it work.
The paradox: me pushing myself - that’s also extrinsic motivation.
And I worked for a while. But I couldn’t find purpose. My writing didn’t impact people’s lives to the extent I wanted. And it massively depended on external factors I couldn’t influence. I couldn’t turn that into a viable business. So I stopped to rethink my strategy.
A high achiever doesn’t rely on external pressure, but on internal clarity.
A clear answer to the question:
“Why am I doing this?”
Because when your topic, your project, your goal is tied to your inner beliefs, you don’t burn out. You burn brighter.
That’s what happened when I started on Substack. It felt like home to me, because I was doing what I could do best: creating products and selling subscriptions. I’ve done that for 15 years already. And it worked.
Now I find purpose. I’m using my skills and knowledge to change people’s lives for the better. I’m creating an impact.
Try this today:
Pick one task you’ve been avoiding.
Don’t “try harder” to push yourself into doing it.
Pause and ask: “Does this connect to who I am?”
If the answer is “No”—good. Now you know.
You’re not lazy. You’re just not aligned.
And if you have to do this task, do it but with conscious knowledge it’s not “your thing”. And start looking for it.
And in the meantime? Have a GUT time!
Yana