For most looksmaxxes, being persistent and consistent is an essential part of reaping the results, yet a lot of people quit at the first hurdle. I’m writing this to help you improve your consistency, follow through, and get the necessary things done with no excuses. Not only is this essential to a lot of aspects to looksmaxxing, but it’s useful everywhere in your life! From putting yourself out there and brushing off rejections, career and business, and even being a better partner. Consistency is the common theme of exceptional achievement!
So are you ready to improve your follow-through?
On paper, most of us agree: hard work spawns results. In fact, adults generally say (when asked in surveys) exceptional results come from hard work, not talent. But in practice, we act like talent creates great achievements. That’s false. Great achievements come from the boring work, the boring practice, and the overall hard work. This is the down payment you make way before results show up.
As a mentor tells me: “You pay for your success in advance.”
If you’re reading this, you probably get that this is the case, but you’re struggling to show up. Why?
If consistency in the mundane creates achievement, why is it so hard to stick with it?
I think it’s because, bluntly, it sucks. Not a little. A lot. Like more than most things we have to do in day to day life. We grind for hours while the world looks like it’s having fun. There’s little immediate pleasure in deep work and to be honest it’s an inconvenience. And, like money and inflation, we discount future happiness: just as $1 today feels worth more than $1 in ten years, enjoyment today feels worth more than enjoyment later.
But that doesn’t mean you give up. Who says one hour of deep, hard work means the other 23 hours must be miserable? Working hard isn’t intrinsically fun, but over a lifetime your quality of life will be higher than your short-term-hedonist peers.
“Okay, but that still doesn’t make getting the shit done any easier.”
True. If we only did things we enjoy and was easy, nothing important would happen. Do you think Jeff Bezos was “living it up” quitting a well-paid finance job to start Amazon? Is a 12-hour brain surgery “fun” for a surgeon? The point: we must stick with our goals. The trap is many of us lock onto low-level goals and forget they’re just one path to the high-level goal.
Find your first principles by asking “why?” until you hit bedrock. Example (how I determined that maxium enjoyment in life was my leading top level goal):
So my top-level goal is maximum enjoyment. The mid/low-level goals (go to the gym, fix X, consider Y) are steps toward that. It’s fine, even smart, to ditch a low-level tactic if another tactic moves you faster toward the real goal.
Everyone has the capacity for greatness. It isn’t magic; it’s sticking with something boring, dull, and sometimes painful long enough to get the result. Your edge is the ability to get up the next day and get back to it , even when it sucks. That voice telling you to quit? Ignore it. Keep going. It’ll suck, it'll hurt, but it WILL be worth it.
So are you ready to improve your follow-through?
It’s simple, but that doesn’t make it easy
On paper, most of us agree: hard work spawns results. In fact, adults generally say (when asked in surveys) exceptional results come from hard work, not talent. But in practice, we act like talent creates great achievements. That’s false. Great achievements come from the boring work, the boring practice, and the overall hard work. This is the down payment you make way before results show up.
As a mentor tells me: “You pay for your success in advance.”
If you’re reading this, you probably get that this is the case, but you’re struggling to show up. Why?
If consistency in the mundane creates achievement, why is it so hard to stick with it?
I think it’s because, bluntly, it sucks. Not a little. A lot. Like more than most things we have to do in day to day life. We grind for hours while the world looks like it’s having fun. There’s little immediate pleasure in deep work and to be honest it’s an inconvenience. And, like money and inflation, we discount future happiness: just as $1 today feels worth more than $1 in ten years, enjoyment today feels worth more than enjoyment later.
But that doesn’t mean you give up. Who says one hour of deep, hard work means the other 23 hours must be miserable? Working hard isn’t intrinsically fun, but over a lifetime your quality of life will be higher than your short-term-hedonist peers.
“Okay, but that still doesn’t make getting the shit done any easier.”
True. If we only did things we enjoy and was easy, nothing important would happen. Do you think Jeff Bezos was “living it up” quitting a well-paid finance job to start Amazon? Is a 12-hour brain surgery “fun” for a surgeon? The point: we must stick with our goals. The trap is many of us lock onto low-level goals and forget they’re just one path to the high-level goal.
Top-, mid-, and low-level goals (Angela Duckworth’s “Grit” idea)
Psychologist Angela Duckworth suggests each area of life should have a top-level goal that’s non-negotiable ,the “end goal.” Mid- and low-level goals are the means to reach it. It’s normal to change the lower-level goals if you find a better route to the top-level one. As Angela herself put it in the book "On any long journey, detours are to be expected."Find your first principles by asking “why?” until you hit bedrock. Example (how I determined that maxium enjoyment in life was my leading top level goal):
- I want to looksmax to look the best I can. Why?
Because I want better treatment generally and to be more attractive to women I find attractive. Why?
Because that means I’ll get laid more and maybe find a romantic partner which I value a lot. Why?
Because that would make me happy and give me a more fulfilling life. Why?
Because my top priority to a fulfilling life is maximum enjoyment out of life.
So my top-level goal is maximum enjoyment. The mid/low-level goals (go to the gym, fix X, consider Y) are steps toward that. It’s fine, even smart, to ditch a low-level tactic if another tactic moves you faster toward the real goal.
So what should we do?
- Never give up on the top-level goal. Everything else that gets you there is flexible.
- Show up daily. Every step moves you closer. If your top-level goal is truly your life’s purpose, you’ll accept short-term discomfort.
- Make quitting hurt now. Tell a friend your plan and set stakes. If you skip, you owe them something painful (money is common). Keep the spirit of your example; consider safer versions: a painful donation, public accountability, or losing fun privileges until you complete the task. The more extreme the pain , the less likely you are to give up. And if you are serious about success, you will without hesitation be willing to give up everything in persuit of your goal, if you are not you need to find your true guiding goal because the one you aren't willing to sacrifice everything for, is not it.
- Train above your current level. Growth is spawned from challenge. Dedicate time every day, even if it’s just an hour. Hours add up, hit a couple hundred hours and results start showing.
- Swap tactics, not the mission. If a low-level plan stalls, replace it. New gym program, different surgery, new haircut whatever gets you back to consistent reps.
Concluding thoughts
Everyone has the capacity for greatness. It isn’t magic; it’s sticking with something boring, dull, and sometimes painful long enough to get the result. Your edge is the ability to get up the next day and get back to it , even when it sucks. That voice telling you to quit? Ignore it. Keep going. It’ll suck, it'll hurt, but it WILL be worth it.
