The Consistency of Who We Are

I've been thinking a lot about consistency recently. What are the things that I do consistently — essentially my habits.

I'm not sure what this means about the ever-evolving question “who am I?” But what I've felt is that consistency is at the root of defining who you are.

Let's start with a few examples that helped me extrapolate into this thinking. I went surfing awhile back with Andrew, Vivian, Anderson, and Sarah. It was a fun experience and now a fond memory, but now that's about it.

On the other hand, I play basketball consistently, usually. 5 to 6 times a week. I'm in a rec league, play pickup a couple times a week, and shoot by myself otherwise. It's a huge part of who I am and when thinking about how someone would describe me, basketball would be stuffed in there. Surfing would be nowhere to be found and you'd be surprised if it was on the list.

So really the idea here is — who are you and how do others know you? Who you are and how others know you is defined by your habits. The things you consistently do and say.

Your work, your relationships, your hobbies — the ones that matter are the ones that go from one-time occurrences to consistent activities.

It's almost like the things that happen one-time don't even matter — they asymptote to zero over time. You eat at a fancy Michelin restaurant? It's an amazing experience but the impact of that experience will asymptote to zero over time.