The Content Diet: Why Consistency Beats Burnout

// The Content Diet

For as long as I can remember, I've yo-yo'd with my dieting and exercise regimes - one minute I'm all in and I'm focusing on what I'm eating, downloading MyFitnessPal and tracking my calories and macros - I'm getting up early 3-4 times a week and focusing on nailing my running (which I love but I don't do enough of) and I'm tracking my weight religiously..

Then, shit happens - I have one bad day and relax with a glass of wine, I skip that meal prepped lunch I made because the team is having pizza and I need to taste that sweet sweet taste of Dominos.. then I fall off the wagon - not for a day, not for a week but all the way until I realise that I'm gorging myself and I need to stop.

Everything gets hard to maintain when you diet because life gets in the way and your old habits creep back in.

Everyone says that the best diet isn't the one which makes you lose the most weight in the shortest period of time, it's the one you can actually stick to without falling off the wagon.

I've found the same with my content creation - this newsletter has been going for a long time by my own standards but it's because I've built a strategy which allows me to actually stick to what I promised I would do and it's at the right frequency that it means I don't post inconsistently.

// The Crash Diet

In the time that I've spent writing this newsletter, which is now stretching way beyond 18 months by the way, I've seen many people start their own newsletters and then, after a few weeks, it all fizzles out and they've not posted again.

Some people go all in - sending stuff out on an unsustainable schedule, posting daily on Linkedin, overcomplicating the way they produce their newsletter, or they're trying to copy big brands with massive teams.

It’s the content version of a juice cleanse or extreme calorie cutting.

🚨 The problem? It’s unsustainable. You might see quick results (growth, engagement), but soon you’ll run out of time, ideas, or motivation.

✅ The fix? Set realistic goals that fit your schedule. If you can’t commit to five posts a week, start with one or two, and be consistent.

When you set out, as I did, you're full of enthusiasm and it's exciting - the thought of growing your newsletter like Justin Welch is just too much of a temptation to not dive in - imagine, you could send a newsletter on Tuesday and by Saturday, you're sipping on a Pina colada while the passive income rolls in - except it's harder than that.. wayyy harder.

And you can try as hard as you like, you can set a content schedule which stretches at least a month long, with daily posts and weekly newsletters but the thing is, if you can't keep it up - you'll fail.

// Macronutrients

When I start out on my diet - I work out everything I need to eat in order to lose weight, I focus on protein intake and I make sure my balanced diet consists of carbs and fats - in the same way, your content strategy needs the right mix of formats and topics and you need to enjoy it enough to stick with it all.

I then set out, over a week or two period how and when I'll eat that food - all tied in with what exercises I'll do, when I'll do weights and when I'll run - so it all builds this nice picture of health.

I set out with the best intentions, full of excitement - making sure that life doesn't get in the way, I set aside a 'cheat' day which allows me to eat and satisfy the cravings for something 'naughty' and I do it all with the intentions of staying consistent - it's all in the planning and prep I say to myself..

The thing about dieting like this is that it's a HUGE change to my normal life and it's a big undertaking which means I regularly drop out of the process (more times than I can count).

The longer I stay in the diet, the more I've lost and the one common factor in my success?

Preparation.

If I’ve got my meals planned and ready to go, I don’t have to rely on willpower - I just eat what’s there. No stress, no last-minute bad decisions.

The content we produce should work in the same way. If you’re scrambling to create something on the fly, you’ll either:

- Skip it entirely and tell yourself you’ll do it ‘tomorrow’ (spoiler: you won’t).
- Throw something together that feels rushed and half-baked.
- Give up.

The fix (which has seemed to work for me)?

Preparation

• Write a few posts ahead of time at the start - give yourself time to be consistent.

• Record multiple videos in one go so you have them ready to post.

• Don't overcomplicate everything.

• Set a schedule which fits with your output. (this is the one which made me stay consistent)
  

It's this entire thing which makes content creation feel effortless and means you're more likely to stick with your plan - it's the equivalent of having prepped meals waiting for you in the fridge when you’re starving and trust me, you'll be bloody starving after a few weeks of content creation.

// Cheat Days

As I've said before, every diet I've ever tried, every attempt I make - I've always relented and slowed down my efforts because no diet is 100% perfect. I know for a fact that I'm going to have a day where I eat a burger and fries, a glass of wine will fall into my hand (and then another) but you know what?

It’s fine.

One bad meal doesn’t ruin my progress - quitting does.

The same has happened with my content and my newsletter - I've broken my leg, I've had one too many at the weekend and failed to write and the worst one of all - I've had a complete mind blank and not bothered. All of this is normal but I've managed to let these slip ups turn into a full on collapse.

Every time I've missed a week in my newsletter (which has been the grand total of 3 times) - I've picked it back up again and I've pressed 'Send' the next week - I've kept moving.

When I'm in 'diet' mode, I know that one cheat meal doesn't equal failure, I know that I can keep dieting and working out the next day - it's just I don't really want to once I've stopped and thats the mindset I need to change.

// The Long-Term Mindset

At some point, if a diet is really working, it stops feeling like a ‘diet’ and just becomes how you eat. You don’t think about it - you just do it and that's what's happened since I've been writing this newsletter over the past 18 months, I seem to have stumbled on a magic formula of sticking with it.

I've not begun to overthink it at all and I've not tried to do 'more' - there is no glamorous system which I want to monetise in the background and I've not really treated it like anything other than an escape once a week to write about things that I find interesting to me.

I guess that this is what happens when you get your content strategy right - it's just how it is.

You stop overthinking.

You stop feeling guilty for not ‘doing more’ and you avoid the guru's advice by not posting more and more on social platforms - being 'omnipresent' as they will quite often spout - you've just built a system that fits your life - not one that feels like a second job.

My final thought on all of this and to sum everything up - I want you to take away something because if your content feels like a crash diet - hard to maintain, stressful, and something you keep quitting - it’s time to rethink it and just focus on what you can do because that's where the secret lies. It's what I've found with all of this - something you can do consistently over a long period of time, will outperform those who do a lot, unsustainably over a short period of time.

My shower thought that led to this blog?

Consistency beats intensity - every single time.