The Consistency Trap: How Productivity Advice is Sabotaging Your Business
You know that pattern, right? Some weeks you're on fire—content flowing, clients responding, sales happening. You finally feel like you've figured this entrepreneur thing out. And then... nothing. Radio silence. Crickets. You show up with the same energy and it just doesn't land.
So you start questioning everything. Was it a fluke? Should you completely overhaul your strategy? You look at all the "successful" entrepreneurs with their perfect morning routines and content calendars planned three months out, and you feel like you're failing because you can't maintain that.
This episode is about why that version of consistency is designed to make you miserable—and what actually works when you're a human with a chaotic life running a business that needs to bend with reality, not break under it.
These lessons come straight from what I teach inside Chaos Detox—because real consistency isn't about showing up the same way every day. It's about creating a rhythm that works for YOUR chaotic brain and real life, understanding that both treasure days and seaweed days are exactly what you need.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why the productivity advice you've been following is making you feel worse
The reframe that changes everything: your "slow" days aren't failures
How a three-year beach ritual taught me about sustainable business building
Seven steps to consistency that work for entrepreneurs dealing with burnout
Why showing up the same way every day isn't actually the key to success
Stop building a business that requires you to be someone you're not (00:13:00)
Commit to the smallest sustainable thing that builds momentum (00:14:30)
Pay attention to what's actually showing up versus what you think it "should" be (00:15:45)
Celebrate treasure days without making them the only days that count (00:17:00)
Why stinky seaweed days are gifts that tell you to pause and recalibrate (00:17:30)
Let your business evolve instead of forcing the plan (00:19:15)
Trust you're collecting treasures even on the days you can't see them (00:20:45)
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Full Episode Transcript
# (42) The Consistency Trap: How Productivity Advice is Sabotaging Your Business
[00:00:00] Let's talk about the lie you've been sold about consistency. You know the one show up every day, same time, same energy, same output. Never miss a Monday, batch your content on Sundays, post at optimal times, track your metrics, optimize everything, and if you can't maintain that pace, while that's a you problem, you're just not disciplined enough, not committed enough, not serious enough about your business.
[00:00:27] And what nobody wants to admit is that that version of consistency will make you miserable. Welcome to Ditch the Chaos. I'm Cara Chace, and this is your space to figure out how to run your life in business without running yourself into the ground. Today we're talking about consistency in business, but not the version.
[00:00:45] You've been force fed by hustle culture. Let's get into it.
[00:00:50] Today I am sharing a story with you that I don't usually tell about my most important self-care ritual and what it taught me about building a business that doesn't destroy you or [00:01:00] burn you out. We're covering seven steps to consistency that actually work for busy brains in real lives, when you're building a business, this is not your typical productivity advice. Let's start with what you're probably experiencing right now. You have weeks where everything clicks, you're on fire, content is flowing, clients are responding, sales are happening. You feel like you've finally figured out this whole entrepreneur thing, and then nothing.
[00:01:28] Radio silence, crickets. You show up with the same energy and strategy that worked last week and it just doesn't land. So you start questioning everything like, was it a fluke? Are you actually any good at this? Should you completely overhaul your strategy? You look at what all the successful entrepreneurs are doing, their perfect morning routines, their content calendars planned three months out.
[00:01:52] They're optimized everything, and you feel like you are failing because you can't maintain all that. Some weeks your homeschooling and managing a [00:02:00] launch and trying to remember if you ate lunch and some weeks your brain is firing on all cylinders and you can see 10 moves ahead.
[00:02:07] And some weeks you need to lie on the floor and stare at the ceiling for 20 minutes just to remember what day it is and the productivity advice you've been following. It makes you feel worse about all of it because that advice treats your business like a machine that should run the same way every single day.
[00:02:24] But you are not a machine. You're a human with a chaotic life. Running a business that needs to bend with that reality, not break under it. So what if I told you that the weeks where nothing lands aren't failures? What if real consistency isn't about showing up the same way every day, but about showing up in a way that's sustainable for you?
[00:02:45] So let me tell you this story about the most consistent thing I ever did and what it taught me about building a business that lasts. When I was in law enforcement in San Diego, my job was quite literally killing me. I'm not kidding. My doctor looked me [00:03:00] in the eye and said those exact words, your job is killing you.
[00:03:04] I was exhausted, bitchy, skeptical, withdrawn, depressed. I was working 10 to 15 hour days, dealing with society's worst, sometimes in my car for two to three days straight. I had a rotating schedule that made it impossible to plan any kind of structured healthy life.
[00:03:22] The only thing that I could count on was Saturdays off. I didn't know what my next career would be. I didn't know how I'd get out of the one that I was in, but I knew I needed to do something to ground myself before I completely lost who I was. So I made a commitment. Every Saturday morning I would walk on the beach and look for treasures, shells, pretty rocks, whatever the ocean had left behind.
[00:03:47] I did this for three years, and I can count on one hand the number of times I missed it. Some Saturday mornings I'd arrive and the sand would literally be covered in shells. [00:04:00] I'd go home with my pockets overflowing, like an excited kid. Those were the days I felt like everything was going to be okay.
[00:04:08] But then some mornings I'd arrive and there was nothing but seaweed in that stinky ocean smell. For the first year, I was disappointed. Every time it was a no Shells morning, I'd show up hoping for treasure and feel let down that there wasn't any.
[00:04:24] But by year two, I started noticing something. The no shells, mornings were always the days I really needed to just be. No distractions, no collecting, just standing in the same spot with the ocean. Washing over my feet for an hour. Those were the days I was feeling particularly down or upset. Those were the days I needed reflection, recalibration, and calmness.
[00:04:51] I also started noticing patterns. Winter meant more sand dollars. Summer meant more mussel shells. The monthly tide [00:05:00] changes made a huge difference in what showed up. The beach was constantly changing because it was where the San Diego River meets the Pacific Ocean. So I never knew what I'd find, but whatever it was, it was exactly what I needed at that particular moment.
[00:05:15] And at the end of three years, when we moved to another state and I left law enforcement, I had hundreds and hundreds of shells, vases full of treasures. Starting my own business felt exactly the same. I came from managing millions of fans across a whole bunch of social media accounts, but always for other brands, never for myself.
[00:05:38] And when I started my own thing, I was basically starting from scratch. I had to build my online presence and expertise as quickly as I could. And just like those beach mornings, I never knew what I'd find when I'd show up. Some days I'd land a dream client. Other days I'd get crickets on a launch that I was sure would've worked, and some days the strategy I'd [00:06:00] been using for months would just suddenly stop working.
[00:06:03] The difference was I'd already learned the lessons from the beach. Both kinds of days were exactly what I needed. So let me give you seven steps to consistency that actually work for busy women in business with full, often chaotic lives.
[00:06:19] Step one, stop building a business that requires you to be someone you're not.
[00:06:25] The only way you'll stay consistent is if you are doing something that lights you up and it solves a problem that matters to you. Think about it. How many times have you stayed consistent with a diet or workout routine you hated? Probably zero. Your business is the same way. If your strategy requires you to show up like someone you're not.
[00:06:45] Extroverted. When you're introverted, always on when you need white space, perfectly polished. When you're raw and real, you will burn out. Figure out what version of consistency actually works for your brain, your energy, and your life, not [00:07:00] the version that works for the other entrepreneurs you follow on Instagram.
[00:07:04] Step two, commit to the smallest sustainable thing. I had no idea what my next career would be. I didn't have a five year plan or a vision board. I just knew I had to take care of myself. So I committed to one walk on the beach every Saturday. Small habits formed over time lead to big changes. In your business.
[00:07:27] This might mean committing to one newsletter a month instead of weekly or one strategic client outreach per day instead of a massive networking blitz you never maintain. The goal isn't to do all the things. It's just to do the one thing that you can actually sustain and let that build momentum. Step three, pay attention to what's actually showing up.
[00:07:49] Just like I had no idea what the beach would look like each Saturday, you don't always know what form your business will take. Maybe you thought you'd be a coach, but your client keeps asking you to just do it [00:08:00] for them. Maybe you built a course, but people want one-on-one access to you.
[00:08:04] Maybe your audience is responding to completely different content than what you planned. Stop forcing what you think is supposed to happen and pay attention to what's actually in front of you. The opportunities that show up even when they're not what you expected are usually exactly what you need in that moment.
[00:08:23] Step four, celebrate the treasure days. Hard. In business, treasures are income, clients, new contracts, collaborations, PR opportunities, all the things that grow your business. Some days you'll find a lot, some days you won't, and that's just how it goes. Treasure days are the days you feel invincible. You've finally got this whole thing figured out.
[00:08:47] Enjoy them, basking them, you've earned them. But also, and this is important, don't let them become the only days that count.
[00:08:57] Step five, the stinky seaweed [00:09:00] days are not failures. You won't always land the deal or get the speaking gig or have a huge launch. Those are the days that feel like showing up to a beach covered in seaweed instead of shells, and nobody tells you this.
[00:09:13] Those days are also a gift. Those are the best days to take more time for yourself and reflect on what needs to shift, what's working, what's draining you? What does your business need that you've been ignoring for the first year on the beach? I was disappointed by no shells mornings, but eventually I realized those were the days I needed to pause and recalibrate.
[00:09:37] Your slow seasons, your failed launches, your quiet weeks, they're not evidence that you're doing it wrong. They're your business telling you to pay attention. What needs to change, what needs to rest, what needs more of you or less of you?
[00:09:51] Step six, let your business evolve. The shoreline was constantly changing because of where the river met the ocean, and I [00:10:00] never knew what it would look like week to week if you told me that I'd go from being a senior special agent, to the social media manager of Megadeth to running a successful Pinterest marketing agency to becoming a productivity and time management coach for women, I would've laughed pretty hard and rolled my eyes. Your business plan will change. Your offers will evolve. Your ideal clients will shift. Don't let how you think it's supposed to be or how it's supposed to happen.
[00:10:28] Keep you from seeing what's right in front of you. Go with the flow. Let the shoreline change, and don't let it intimidate you.
[00:10:34] And finally, step seven, trust that you're collecting treasures even when you can't see them. Entrepreneurship is a long game. Those of us who have been in business for a few years know that the get rich quicks don't last long.
[00:10:49] Knowing how to take the good with the lessons of the bad is the key to longevity. And over time, with consistency in an authentic head space, you will end up with tons and [00:11:00] tons of treasures. . Just like I ended up with vases full of shells and sand dollars and I collected them by showing up every Saturday, even when I didn't know what I'd find.
[00:11:09] You're building something even on the seaweed days. So let me leave you with this. Real consistency isn't about showing up the same way every single day.
[00:11:20] It's not about perfect routines or never missing a Monday or optimizing every moment. Real consistency is about creating a rhythm that works for your brain in real life. It's about showing up in a way that's sustainable, even when, especially when life gets messy. It's about understanding that treasure days and seaweed days are both part of the process.
[00:11:42] They're both necessary and they're both exactly what you need, and it's about building a business that bends with your life instead of breaking under it. We don't live close to the beach anymore, so I had to find a new ritual in our new town. There's a lovely covered spot right on the river in our neighborhood where I can [00:12:00] go rain or shine.
[00:12:01] Instead of looking for seashells, I watch how the wildlife, the trees, and the river change throughout the year. Ducks, geese, and their babies. Bald eagles, great blue herons, foxes, deers, coyote, beavers, even a river otter. I've seen them all.
[00:12:16] It's my space to have my coffee and trust that everything is all good. I also make time every day to meditate and journal, which reveals so much to me about my true motivations and purpose, both in life and business. They're small steps over times that yield big changes. Your version of consistency doesn't have to look like anyone else's.
[00:12:37] It just has to work for you.
[00:12:41] If you're tired of holding your life and business together with duct tape and coffee, I have something for you. The Productivity Rebellion is my monthly strategy guide for women who refuse to choose between success and sanity.
[00:12:53] Every month you get actionable productivity strategies for your busy life behind the scenes, stories from my business and life, [00:13:00] and you can submit questions that I'll answer right here on the show. Sign up for free at carachace.com/productivity rebellion. Thanks for listening. If this helped, leave a review and share it with a friend who's trying to figure out how to be consistent without burning out. I'm Cara Chace reminding you to keep questioning the rules and making your own.
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You've tried the perfect morning routines, the content calendars, the optimized everything—and you still can't maintain consistent energy in your business. Here's why that version of consistency is making you miserable, and the seven-step framework that actually works for women entrepreneurs.