The Rule Of 100 - Why Consistency Matters

Whether Your Looking To Land Clients Or Grow Your Following

Recently the concept of the rule of 100 has come up during several conversations.

I can’t recall where I first heard the concept, but it resonated as someone who has put out content on multiple platforms and even topics.

For those who are unclear, the rule states that you should be willing to try a new skill at least 100 times before giving up.

WITH A FOCUS ON IMPROVEMENT.

This might take different forms. For example, if you’re talking about programming or learning an instrument you might practice 1-2 hours a day for 100 days.

For content creation, you should likely write 100 posts, or perhaps you’ll host 100 podcasts. I’d add that Alex Hormozi would also say that you should be doing 100 primary actions for 100 days(100 minutes of writing content, 100 reaching out to sales leads, etc). So perhaps this rule should be called the 100x100 rule.

The number 100 is somewhat arbitrary, but it does easily allow you to create distinct phases where you can break out what you have learned as well as provide enough time to have some level of measurable progress.

Reflection Is Key

Before going too much further on this topic I want to point out something. Just writing 100 posts or practicing an instrument for 100 days is not sufficient. There needs to be a mindful effort to improve.

There are lots of ways you can go about this. For example, in the past when I started posting Youtube videos I aimed to improve 1-2 things every 5th or so video.

I bought a camera stand.

Worked on speaking slower.

And put together a new background(although now I have moved and haven’t updated my studio).

The point is, that you need to take a moment between trying to execute to reflect and get better.

There was a great breakdown that I found from another author that you can use to approach the next thing you’re trying to learn. In particular, they are referring to content but you could apply this to other concepts.

0–20: Understanding the platform and what works

20–40: First attempt at writing and experimenting

50–70: Analysing what has worked and repeating it

70–90: Getting the momentum and reaching a flow state

90–100: A stage where I can say I’ve written my best content

Source - Shreya Badonia

Truthfully, when I first started learning new skills, I never broke it down this way and I do believe it would have helped!

Everyone Is Bad When They Start

Besides a few exceptions, most people are terrible at a new skill when they start. May it be skiing, making YouTube videos, or writing content on LinkedIn.

For example, here is one of my first YouTube videos where I showed my face.

Compared to a more recent video.

Everything from how I talked on camera, to the fact that the camera itself is just my laptop camera. There were a lot of improvements to be made.

Embrace being bad at something! I believe that many of us put too much effort into being perfect the first time we do something which ends up holding us back.

You won’t be perfect the first time you try something new.

And that should be freeing not restricting.

All that said, there still needs to be clear growth.

You Need To Be Persistent

For most people, doing something for 100 minutes a day for 100 days is hard. And it’s fair to say not everyone has time.

I think the graph from above shows that and anecdotally speaking my unplayed guitar in the corner of my house thats far out of tune also…shows how bad many of us are at doing anything for 100 days if it’s new to us(or we don’t actually like doing it).

But if you’re genuinely planning to start consulting or want to become a content creator, it’ll likely be necessary.

If not for 100 consecutive days probably at least 100 days out of a full year. You’re going to need to be consistent and persistent.

There will be days when you feel like you don’t have anything to write or film. Try anyway. Even if all you write is a few paragraphs.

It’s far better than giving yourself an excuse because those slowly become a habit.

That’s where community can come into play!

Find yourself a community that can help keep you accountable.

Whether that’s a paid group or a free one. That’s not important. Find a group of people that help keep you focused!

What If Nothing Has Changed

If at the end of the 100 days, posts or podcasts you’re not seeing growth, then something needs to change.

Now I want to be clear if you’re seeing growth, but you’re bummed because you’re not Mr. Beast yet.

That’s not the point of this exercise. More than likely, you’ll only just be getting started. I have posted well over 100 videos on YouTube and I haven’t broken 100k subscribers yet, but I am still landing clients through YouTube.

But if you’ve put out 100 Twitch live streams and you still only have 5 people listening in. It might be time to try a new angle.

You don’t have to give up on your goals.

Perhaps all you need is a new topic or perspective. As I’ve talked about before, I used to write a blog talking about food and restaurants. It didn’t do terribly, but it also clearly was never going to be it.

But I did learn a lot about SEO, creating traction, and making content people wanted to read.

I think that’s what is great about the rule of 100.

At the very least, you’ll likely have come away with a lot of new lessons that you can apply to the next iteration or phase of your journey.

With that, I hope your next 100 day challenge is successful!

Thanks for reading, if you want to read some of the prior articles, then read these articles.

• How To Get Clients As A Consultant - Marketing Tips

• How To Kill Your Profits As A Data Analytics Consultant

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Quick update!

We finally launched a new home page for the Technical Freelancer Academy. If you’re looking to break into consulting, then you should check it out. We go over everything from landing clients to different projects you can deliver.

See you there!

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