Hill sprints this morning. And that first one was hard.
I’d stayed at Dr Louise Schofield’s place in Takapuna the night before. We headed out at 6.45am for a run along the beach, then found a quiet street for hill sprint repeats.
That first sprint felt endless. I didn’t know where the finish was. I kept looking at my watch, wondering how much longer I had to go. Funny how 90 seconds can take so long.
By the last set (well, my fifth, because I pushed the wrong button on my Garmin!) I ran my best effort of the morning.
Was I more fatigued? Yep. But I’d already been there. I knew where the finish was. I had a target in my head, the car on the side of the road I was going to pass. And I knew I could do it.
Same thing happens when I work with a client on their LinkedIn.
The first post feels awkward. Overthinking every sentence. Wondering what people will think. But after a few, it gets easier. You do the reps, you find your voice, you keep showing up.
The problem is most people never get to the second post.
Knowing what to do was never the problem
Ok, truth moment. When you go quiet – on LinkedIn, on the training, on the thing you keep meaning to start – it's not because you dont' know what to do.
You know you should do it. You pretty much know how to do it. You just dont do it, consistently.
There’s a name for what’s happening. Parkinson’s Law: work expands to fill the time available. “I’ll get to it” means never, because there’s always something else that fills the day. Say you'll do something but set no deadline? 9 out of 10 times, it'll never happen.
Knowing what to do was never the gap. Doing it consistently is.
What actually makes you show up
Over the years, doing this for myself and for clients, I’ve landed on three things that turn good intentions into a habit that sticks.
Jacqui's Accountability Law:
Pay for it. We value what we invest in. Free advice gets saved and never opened (hello my saved feed in Instagram). But let's be honest, money makes you turn up.
Set the standard. A clear bar you’ve said out loud. One post a week. Four runs. Whatever it is – name it, so you’re on the hook to yourself and to whoever heard you.
Be held accountable. Someone checks in. Not to nag. But when you know someone’s going to ask “did you do it?”, you do it.
Three simple things. Miss any one and it wobbles. Put all three together and showing up stops being about willpower and becomes a system.
It’s also why I run my LinkedIn coaching over 90 days with regular calls, not as a one-off workshop. Getting started is never the hard part. But I know that when we can keep on going for long enough it starts to compound - and that's when we can build the habit.
A free download never changes anything. A structured process with someone in your corner does. Not because the download had worse advice. Because nothing was holding you to it.
I run on this myself
I’m not selling you a theory. It’s the thing I run on.
Like the hill sprints. The first one was awful because I didn’t know where the 'done' line was. By the last, I’d been there, so I could push harder. That’s the whole game. The first rep feels endless. Then you’ve done it, and the next one’s easier.
I do exactly what I ask of clients. The weekly rhythm. Showing up when I don’t feel like it. Getting it done. If you’re reading this, that’s the reps working.
Pick the thing you keep not getting to. Put something on the line, set a standard you can hold, and get someone to check in. Then do the reps.
Need someone to keep you accountable?
If the thing you've been putting off is building your visibility on LinkedIn, or moving marketing from your 'yeah I'll do it list' to 'I'm getting it done this week' I'd love to help. Get in touch.
Jacqui Gage-Brown
📷 Post hill sprints at Takapuna on a fresh winter's morning
