Drops of Diligence (Intern Edition)
In the journey of self-improvement, it's easy to get lost in novel new ways to better oneself. For me, it's the new book I have to read, a new workout trend, or working on my morning routine. With so many options, and every one vouched for as “the one to try,” I wondered: everyone seems to have their thing that works, their own secret to success. What do all the success stories have in common?
Refreshing Routine
This being my second summer interning at Agile Rainmakers, I stepped into the office on June 1st excited to experience the variety of clients that made every day last summer different and interesting in its own way. Ready for the differences brought by our client work, I was surprised to also notice a very familiar Agile Rainmakers cadence to business and consulting. Our daily routines, values, and training were word for word, meeting for meeting the same as they had been when I walked in new to the company 12 months before. I had heard the reasons why each had been woven into Agile Rainmakers’ recipe to success, but what struck me most was the utter consistency with which they were still being applied.
Machiavelli once said “men desire novelty to such an extent that those who are doing well wish for a change as much as those who are doing badly.” I’ve noticed that this novelty was my Achilles Heel. It is a challenge to stick to it when a new shinier option surfaces. There I realized what sets apart the “secrets to success” from the outcomes we are all after: the diligence to push past novelty and stick to what works – that’s success in a nutshell.
Falling In Love With Routine
Throughout history and across the human and natural world, big things are built from consistent small things. A drop of water, for example, is all but powerless on its own, but over years, single drops of water falling over and over again erode a canyon. Single drops of water, given time and consistency, amount to a force that quite literally moves mountains.
To paraphrase one of my favorite authors, James Clear: as one continues to improve themself and strive for success, at some point everyone must fall in love with routine and the repetition of doing something they know works over and over again. Echoing the same sentiment as Machiavelli, he emphasizes how we are all drawn to spend our time on activities that are the most exciting or convenient for us, but if you only put in the work when it is, you will never have the consistency necessary to achieve transformative results. One drop of water… five… ten… won’t etch a canyon on their own.
Agile Rainmakers’ interns love their routines. Each day, we walked into our morning meeting, read our company mission and vision, shared about our day prior, and planned out our workday. Morning meeting, drop, mission and vision, drop, share our day, drop, plan, drop. By the end of the summer, these short habits that on any given day were but a drop of water on a rock, built a canyon of mutual values, trust, and good practice. What’s more, a solid routine was comfortable and allowed the team to organically grow with the tools we practiced.
Diligence In Practice
At Agile Rainmakers, I’ve learned that to be diligent is to capitalize on consistency, even as your proven routines lose their novel appeal, with the trust and confidence that what you are doing will move you, your work, and those around you forward. It’s okay to experiment on what that might be for you; you might invest in a new habit, routine, or communication skill perhaps, but what is important is you find it, test it, and if all is well, stick to it.
In business and life, now I know it’s no secret: consistency is key. This summer I learned that it’s not always quite that simple, and definitely not always easy to be consistent, but at the end of the day, diligence is king. Agile Rainmakers embraces this fundamental diligence, the embracing routine in absence of novelty that Machiavelli and Clear uphold. It's this diligence to reinforce the little habits in the workplace that kept us present to the company mission and vision, our values, and ultimately keen to driving good business that left us with happy clients and a tremendously rewarding summer internship experience.
- J.N.
Here's to you and your awesome future.
Until then, keep your feet on the board and keep riding your wave!
Robert J. Khoury
CEO Agile Rainmakers