Today, I’m going to tell you the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything…

And no, it’s not 42.

The supercomputer was wrong.

It’s one word.

A word that feels a little dirty.  At least, if you’re not willing to embrace it, to own it, to make it your own.

If you try to ignore this word…  If you resist this word…

It will come back to haunt you.

You will fail to achieve your goals.  You will enjoy less success and prosperity than you want — and could enjoy.

You will not live your fullest life — until and unless you learn to love this dirty word…

A few minutes ago, as I write this, I was totally unsure of what to write.

I was hating myself a little bit, once again, for making this dang commitment to you, to send out another daily email and essay.

I was regretting my promise of these daily breakthroughs.

And then I remembered something.

I was having a conversation yesterday with one of my junior copywriters, Joshua.  He said he was in a private copywriter forum.  And they were discussing me — and these essays.

And he said that there were a lot of people there who read — and love — these essays.

And then he dropped this on me — that he called a direct quote from this forum…

“Roy’s a beast…”

Now, I could claim fundamental genius — and I’d be wrong.

I could claim that I out-work others — I’d also be wrong.

I could claim…  (Well, let’s assume the list goes on.)  — I’d also be wrong.

Almost anything I could claim that earns me that praise would be wrong.

But there’s one thing that’s led to Breakthrough Marketing Secrets being one of the most-respected daily newsletters in direct response…

That’s led to so many rave reviews…

That’s led to my heroes consistently reading what I write, and occasionally dropping kind words into my inbox…

And that’s led to copywriters, marketers, and business-builders around the world speaking kindly of me in-person and online, calling me “a beast” in praise.

My secret?

It’s that dirty C word.

Curious?  (And no, that’s not it.)

It’s CONSISTENCY.

It’s painful as hell.  Especially on days like today, when I really just want to mess around all afternoon, doing anything but work.

But I made a commitment to write these essays every day.  All the way back in April 2014 (holy cow BTMS is almost 5 years old!).

And every work day that I’m actually working (and many that I’m not), I make sure these land in your inbox.  Pretty much always on time, with the rare exceptions of those few times where I take a couple extra minutes to finish or accidentally forget to confirm the send schedule.

Even when I’m not loving it.  Even when I’m not feeling great to write.  Even when I’m not in love with what I’m writing.

In fact — and here’s a crazy thing — sometimes the essays I hate clicking “send” on most are the ones that get the most praise.

I never know what’s going to resonate.

But I sit down consistently for an hour every day, force my brain to come up with an idea, and crank out about 1,000 words.

And I stick to it, because I know consistency with anything is what gets results.

This dirty C word helps with more than just work…

I just read an interesting article on The Religion of Workism — about how being obsessed with work is making us (Americans, in the article) miserable.

And I tend to agree.  Tying up all our happiness in work is dangerous.  So don’t think I’m telling you that you need to consistently put in 80-hour weeks and spend all your time focused on work.

Instead, find a few critical tasks that you can execute with consistency, to help you reach your goals.

Health: Stepping on the scale every morning since September 1, 2016 has helped me establish control over my weight, and shed excess and potentially dangerous body fat.  As part of this, my blood pressure has dropped from being always in pre-hypertension range to usually being in the normal range.

Fitness: Five days per week I do a short, intense workout before the kids get up.  This has helped me feel stronger and more capable in my body, and is visibly increasing my muscle mass.

Happiness and mental wellbeing: Every morning I meditate for at least 15 minutes, and am now up to over 500 consecutive days of daily meditation.  I still feel ADHD and like I’m distracted and doing meditation wrong, plus it’s shined light on parts of me that I’ve tried to hide from, but overall it’s increasing my deep sense of happiness and ability to bring my best to life.

Wealth: We all want to get rich quick but the most reliable path to riches is to get a little richer every day, week, month, year.  Consistently setting aside a portion of your income into savings you don’t intend to spend during your earning years (and living below your means) is key.  With that, learning to live on less, and investing for consistent growth.

Relationships: Be consistent in prioritizing time for your most important relationships.  Even brief moments of full attention and acceptance done consistently through time really add up.  Bonus if you add consistent togetherness rituals in your relationships such as date night.

Wisdom: Carving out a little time on a daily basis to reflect on how you can live a better life is a powerful thing.  I’ve been reading a page from The Daily Stoic every day since last August, just before my morning meditation.  My friend Perry Marshall calls it Pre-Gutenberg Time.  Reading ancient texts that survived from before mass printing is an easy hack to find timeless wisdom — and you’ll be surprised how much of it gets to base principles and is still extremely relevant.

(Note: even though this list seems long, most of the above fits into less than an hour every day and makes every other hour of my day better.)

Don’t start all of these at once…

Pick one.  Or come up with one of your own.

If you try to do too many, you’ll burn out.

The point is to be CONSISTENT.

So pick something to do that is high-impact for you.  You probably already know what it is.

Then, start doing it with consistency.

For me, beyond Breakthrough Marketing Secrets, it was stepping on the scale, and entering the numbers into a spreadsheet.

I got consistent about that, when I was out of shape and had lost my intentionality around so many of the items in that list above.

Stepping on the scale led to more healthy diet choices, and the decision to get back on top of my fitness.

Then it was a snowball effect.

As I found small things to be consistent about, I saw the rewards of that consistency.  So I found more small and impactful things to be consistent about.

Each arose naturally — in time — as consistency in some areas reinforced it in others.

But again, it comes back to that one thing.

That one little thing.

Decide to be consistent about ONE THING…

And make it your priority to get it done every day.

Even when it’s hard.

Even when you don’t want to do it.

Life is long.

And these little things add up.

Today’s 15 minutes of meditation may not have had much of an impact.  But that same action repeated over the course of years or decades can completely redirect the path of life’s journey.  It has profound benefits — proven by science.

Likewise, saving an extra $10 today may not feel like much.  But in a year, that daily habit leads to $3,650 set aside.  And once you’ve started that habit, that $10 per day may quickly grow to $100 and beyond.

And on and on.  Pick small actions you can take that will add up through time, to live a better life.

Start with one, and get consistent.

Until it becomes so automatic you feel weird if you miss it.

That’s when you know the breakthrough is coming.

Then repeat.

Yours for bigger breakthroughs,

Roy Furr