Dear Reader,
Consistency.
This single word turned my life upside down.
Just do something continuously. That's consistency, right? What's the big deal in that? I hear you asking. Because I used to think the exact same thing.
Let me give you a small example.
For months now, I've been fighting a massive battle with myself.
My sleep cycle is an absolute disaster. Literally, it looks like Kamal Haasan in the climax of Moondram Pirai.
So, I was on a mission to fix it.
On Day 1, I actually (nearly) succeeded. At 10:00 PM, I put my phone far out of reach and laid down.
I closed my eyes. Pitch darkness. What a miracle. Wait... isn't it supposed to be dark when you close your eyes?
That's when it hit me. I hadn't experienced actual, pitch-black silence before sleeping in months.
Usually, my eyes just shut automatically while doom-scrolling Reels. There have even been nights where I dropped the phone straight onto my face.
So when I tried treating sleep as a primary task, I realized something terrifying: There is a long, boring stretch of darkness between closing your eyes and actually falling asleep.
And I lost to that darkness.
I couldn't handle the quiet silence. So I reached out, grabbed my phone, and started scrolling again.
Apparently, I can only sleep when I'm watching random strangers do random dance moves to completely unrelated songs.
The next day, I decided to try a technique from Atomic Habits.
If you want to build a hard habit, break it down into a series of micro-actions.
So to fix my sleep cycle, what was the chain of events?
The rule: Perform Action 1 consistently for a week. If you win, move to Action 2 the following week. If you fail on any single day? Next day is Day 1 again.
Action 1: 9:30 PM in the bedroom. Success. Super easy.
Where I got completely stuck was Action 2.
Flipping a simple light switch turned out to be impossibly hard. Day 1... Day 1... Day 1. The loop never ended.
Then a terrifying thought struck me.
If a guy can't even maintain consistency with a light switch... How on earth is he running a company as a founder? How did he build a personal brand with over 170K+ followers?
When I sat down and really thought about it, the truth became glaringly clear.
Desperation drives consistency.
When I posted my very first video on Instagram, I was desperate.
I was desperate to prove them wrong.
In brand marketing, product management, and product marketing, I saw so many flawed assumptions around me.
People senior to me were heading down the completely wrong path. You don't build a product like that. You don't build a brand like that. Sure, it might give short-term wins, but long-term? Guaranteed failure.
I had this burning spark inside me, screaming to get out and prove that their way was broken.
My personal brand was born out of that pure desperation.
So if you want consistency, you need desperation.
Want to hit the gym consistently? How desperate are you to transform your body? That decides it.
Want to make money consistently? How desperate are you for money? That decides it.
You can try treating consistency as a pure act of discipline. Some people succeed with that. That's what books like Atomic Habits teach.
But, dear reader, I say this from my experience. Nothing provides raw, unstoppable momentum like DESPERATION.
Dot.
Yours, Praveen Simon
P.S. Whether you agree or think I'm completely wrong, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Drop me a note at praveensimon@10thlayer.com.
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