What Is a Routine and Why Is It Essential for Success?

I'm sure you have been told before that it's good to have a routine - why we are always told this, I am unsure. When it comes to general fitness and going to the gym, a routine makes sense. A winding-down routine before bed to get better sleep, again, makes sense. So what does it mean for your own success?

To cover off the definition quickly, routine simply means having a set plan in place - it could be a daily, weekly, or fortnightly set of items that you do in a fixed sequence or order. Why is this so important for your own success? I believe the autonomy created by repeating a routine can take over when your passion or motivation is absent.

The Problem With Relying on Motivation Alone

See if this sounds familiar: you start a new venture or project on the side. The first 2–3 weeks are fantastic - motivation and passion for your newfound opportunity are at an all-time high. But what happens in weeks 4–5 when you just don't really feel like it and tell yourself you will "get to it next time"? Or weeks 6–8, where you may now be facing two months of no immediate return or tangible result? You most likely put that opportunity or idea back in the mental vault, right next to the list of items that experienced the exact same lifespan. I know this because I have done this too, along with 8 out of 10 of the entrepreneurs I work with on their own businesses. Everything is easy when you're motivated and driven, but the reality is that motivation is not a constant thing you will possess at all times.

Now, if you were to consult or listen to the online "influencer" entrepreneurs of the social media age - or open TikTok to a motivational video - you will most likely be told you just have to suffer, get on with it, and get to work. While this is true in part, and involves values and a mentality I have written about before, I think there is a more nuanced approach to sustaining enough of a working rhythm to see long-term success: a routine.

How Routine Takes Over When Motivation Is Gone

I have focused a lot on the mental side of being an entrepreneur - the hustle, not giving up, the mindset of persistence, etc. I think they will all serve you greatly; those very same values have taken me from painting fishing boats with anti-foul to acquisitions and C-suite roles. But as of late, in new ventures and opportunities I have been involved in, I have found that cognitively setting up a solid routine you can stick to almost circumvents all of them when it comes to raw output potential.

This publication is a fantastic real-world example I can give you. Every Monday and Thursday, I sit at my dining table for 2–3 hours and write about my experiences from my trajectory so far. I have been doing so for almost 3 months now - to the point where if I'm not writing on my computer around 6:00 PM, it feels almost "wrong" not to do it. From the start, I knew this venture would take persistence. So instead of relying on my mindset to get me writing twice a week, I decided to look at it from another angle: just make it a routine that can be followed. Engraining it into my week like this has completely removed the need to "force" myself or "just get on with it" when it's time to write.

Looking back throughout my trajectory so far, I believe this was a skill I employed many times without realizing it. During my sign-writing apprenticeship, I would come home from work around 5:30 PM, eat until 6:00 PM, and then get on my computer to create marketing content, social videos, and work on the store's conversion rate and flow until 11:00 PM before going to sleep. Then I'd do it again the next day, so on and so on. I had set a routine for myself without actually realizing it. That very routine drove me to build a 6-figure eCommerce brand and create the butterfly effect for my current position.

Applying this same train of thought to your own ventures may help you in the long run. Create a routine that can be followed so that, in the absence of motivation, you continue to show up and work towards your goals. This mechanism should act as a fail-safe against any other "reasoning" (excuses) you have to skip the work.

Why Routines Create Greater Results Over Time

To set up a routine, I do believe you have to look at your objective with a longer time horizon. I have written about that in another piece, so I won't reiterate it here, but the benefits of that mindset go hand in hand with the power of a routine over a long period.

The true benefit of setting yourself up to follow a routine is that you create the opportunity to see your work compound exponentially over time. The example I gave above about giving up on an opportunity early into its lifespan is, from what I have seen in others, the root cause for why they don't attain the success or reach the outcomes they desire: they kill an idea before it has time to compound. Creating a routine gives your idea more runway to find success. For example, Forbes noted in a study that 90% of people who start online business ventures quit within the first 1 to 4 months. While I'm sure a fraction of people have their own valid reasons to quit, how many of that 90% do you think quit simply because they couldn't stick with it? From what I know and from the people who approach me for help with their businesses, I'd wager that number is extremely high.

The Framework: Why Routine Drives Long-Term Success

While I won't break down the exact step-by-step process of "how" to physically design one here - I will save that for another piece on building a sustainable routine - the core principle is simple: create a routine you can actually follow without making it an overbearing task from the get-go.

Outside of that, and the core reasoning behind creating one, consider these fundamental principles next time you approach your next project, venture or opportunity:

• Routine acts as a driver for output when motivation is absent: It removes the decision-making friction when enthusiasm fades.

• Routines expand your time horizon: Following a set sequence gives a venture more runway to succeed before you kill the idea prematurely.

• Routines unlock compounding results: Executing consistently over a long period gives your work the room it needs to yield exponential returns.