In early June I ran a half marathon. That’s more than 13 grueling miles.
All at once. And I didn’t stop to walk. It takes a lot of dedication and training to get there. In both April and May I logged 100 miles. I was getting up early and running three or four times per week.
I slowed down a bit in the summer with my half marathon over, but I kept running. Then in September I completely fell off the wagon. My running schedule had slowed down, then I got sick and couldn’t run at all. By the time September ended I had managed to run only 9 miles the entire month.
But even worse than the few miles was the quality of those runs. I tried to run just three miles and couldn’t do it without stopping to walk. Multiple times. The energy, stamina and performance I’d worked so hard to build in the spring were gone.
It’s all a lesson in consistency.
Running—like much of life—demands consistency. If you don’t stick with it and follow through, you fall apart.
The same thing happens with communication. If you don’t consistently communicate, then your efforts are wasted. You can’t just send out an email whenever you feel like it and expect to get good results. You need to consistently communicate to your audience so they know what to expect and grow to trust your presence and voice.
It’s a practical lesson from running and it’s just as true on this blog. Scattered, random communication doesn’t work. Aim to be consistent. Even if it means being less frequent. Consistency trumps frequency.