Halu !

Some years back, (lol eto na naman tayo sa past tense) I was lucky enough to have coffee with the Dream Team, Crème de la crème of my most successful freelancer friends.

Like, the kind who don't even blink at charging 7-figure project fees and have clients waiting in line.

These were successful business owners in their own right. 

Jay Castillo of Foreclosure Philippines

Allan Ngo of Digital Solopreneur

Jason Dulay of VABootcamp.PH

Marv de Leon of Freelance Blend Podcast

John Pagulayan of The Freelance Movement

And Shoden of Shoot Practical Videography School (nuks)

Context: Bago lang ako nito kaka-transition from offline freelance video guy na may offline workshop based school, to online freelancer newbie. In short I was the dumbest guy in that coffee shop, haha

Now a couple of them have changed directions sa business nila since this photo but you know what I mean.. These guys are still the real deal.

So there I was dying to know their secrets. 

Was it their killer portfolio? Some hidden networking trick? Maybe they sold their souls to the digital marketing gods? 

(NGL minsan mapapaisip ka how these guys are so so good)

So I asked them point-blank: "Ano ba talaga ang secret niyo mga brow?"

They laughed, looked at each other, and almost in unison said: "Showing up consistently." 

Well di naman ganon ka scripted, I just wrote it like that para cinematic. ^_^ But invariably consistency yung common theme sa sagot nila.

And it showed. 

Consistent value posts, consistent emails, consistent listings, consistent podcasts, consistent message to their audience. 

Consistently showing up.

Is that it!? Seriously?

I was expecting some mind-blowing revelation, and they were wizards or something. Lol

But nope. Just the boring, unsexy truth that consistency trumps everything else.

That’s when it really sinked in, 

", you can't do big things in one go. It takes deliberate and consistent action over and over again, even when nothing seems to happen. That's where the wins are." - - is what they would say to you if you were there. ^_^

Now up until that point nobody really talked much about consistency. At least ako I didn't see much literature on it. 

Kasi, let's be honest — consistency isn't sexy. 

Back then (2017) nobody was making viral TikToks about "how I did the same thing every day over and over for two years straight." malamang kasi Tiktok didn’t exist lol. 

Nobody was selling courses titled "The Boring Path to Success."

We all want the shortcut, the growth hack, the overnight success story.

James Clear, author of "Atomic Habits," puts it perfectly: "You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems." He emphasizes that success comes from "showing up even when you don't feel like it" and that consistent, small improvements compound dramatically over time. 

Yes, kahit one hour a day lang, .

And you know what? The same applies to freelancing.

The math of consistency

Think about it.

If you send just 2 quality outreach messages every weekday, that's 40 per month and 480 per year.

Even with just a lousy 2% conversion rate, that's STILL 9-10 potential clients annually.

Now, imagine if you did this for two whole-ass years. Tapos you're delivering quality work consistently. You're responding to messages promptly. You're showing up to meetings prepared.

Before you know it, you're that freelancer people want to work with.

If I'm being honest, I'm writing this to stave off inconsistency. And that's because I’ve had my share of not being consistent din. 

Not many know this but I started a YouTube channel in 2020 called █████ █████ █████████ And no, don’t try to find it. 

I’m not resurrecting it, haha. 

But really, just so you know lang, I tried din and failed. 

I released TWELVE whole long-form episodes, got excited about the possibilities, posted on social media about my "new venture," and then...

nothing.

Grew it to 1000 subs in 12 videos over a few months. Your first 1k subs are usually the hardest. And I think the algo was starting to notice.

Not bad for the time it took.

But sadly…. Walang episode 13. Hindi ko na nasundan.

When people asked what happened, I'd say "I got busy with client work" or "I'm planning a rebrand." Totoo din naman kasi it really helped with my credibility as a YouTube strategist. 

But if you really ask me… I’m still a bit sad about it. It still stings. If I kept doing it consistently, my life may have been wildly different today. 

At the very least, I’d have an extra revenue stream na sana. 

Reflecting on it now though, back then I tried to do too much. 

I didn't have the consistency muscle built up yet. I thought inspiration would carry me through, but it didn't.

Full manual writing, research, ideation, filming, editing, engagement, everything. No AI pa nun. Using my old phone lang din and found items sa bahay. Just like this video. 

Anyway, I see some similar channels that didn't exist back then now getting 1.2M subs on YouTube. Their secret? They record every week, rain or shine, inspired or not. Pangit man yung video or not. 

One of my regrets din talaga sya. Oh well, no sense crying over spilt milk.

The good news these days though, is you don't need to publish daily content or work 80-hour weeks to be consistent.

Creating content daily is about 10 times harder than doing it weekly. It's not a linear relationship – the challenge grows exponentially.

For us freelancers, this means finding our optimal balance between:

- Frequency (how often you show up)

- Consistency (keeping your promises to yourself and clients)

- Value (making each effort count)

Aminin natin we actually keep our promises better to our clients, instead of ourselves. 

The beauty of consistency is that "you can't do something consistently over time and not get better at it." Every client project, every post, every email makes you stronger.

And I can attest to this, as I’ve been trying to find my groove with our weekly emails, it’s actually grown easier even if my emails seem to grow longer. (Sareee na hehe)

Here are three practical ways to build your consistency muscle:

1. Start small but non-negotiable

Choose ONE activity and make it sacred. Maybe it's sending 2 outreach messages daily or posting weekly on LinkedIn or sending weekly emails (ahem). Whatever it is, protect that commitment like your lola's secret adobo recipe.

2. Build accountability

Tell someone about your consistency goal or join a group where you can check in. When I committed to this newsletter, I told my accountability buddy of 7 years about it, and now I update him with screenshots, and even if he's Indian and doesn't understand taglish, he's in this list as well, kaya walang takas 😅Shoutout to you, Karthik!

3. Track visibly

Use a simple wall calendar where you mark a big fat X for each day you maintain your habit. The growing chain of X's becomes oddly motivating. Hindi mo na gugustuhin masira yung streak mo!

Classic Chinese Giveaway calendar, sarap lagyan ng whiteboard marker amiright?!

What happens though when you miss a couple days? 

Perhaps most importantly, know what to do when you inevitably miss a day or break your consistency streak: just get back to it without drama.

Your brain will try to sabotage you with thoughts like "maybe it just wasn't meant to be" or "perhaps it's too hard." Recognize this for what it is—resistance—and simply restart.

I've learned this lesson many times. May mga weeks na hindi ako consistent sa pag-send ng email na 'to. But instead of abandoning it completely, I just pick it back up.

And remember, be kind to yourself. Perfectionism is the enemy of consistency.

So tell me, , what's one area of your freelance business where you want to build more consistency? Reply and let me know – I read every message!

LFG,

Shoden "Habit Singson" San

P.S. Want to know what habit tracker app I’m testing that gamifies our habits? It's nothing fancy, it looks baduy pa nga e. But it works for keeping me on track when motivation fades! Reply lang with “baduy!”

🎉 Pst. Don't Keep Me A Secret. refer this newsletter to your freelancer friends. This REALLY REALLY helps me a lot, thanks!