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Why showing up doesn't mean showing up perfectly.

Why showing up doesn't mean showing up perfectly.

In this issue: What consistency means, the ONE visual who's message I hope will outlast me, and why the little efforts over time matter.

PJ Milani
October 21, 2025

🤔 INTERESTING

Illustration by milaniCREATIVE.art visualizing the idea of consistency. At the top, a label reads “Consistency.” Below it, two large heart-shaped symbols sit side by side. The left heart is bright red and almost full to the top, labeled “Some days you’ll feel like this.” The right heart is almost completely empty, just barely filled, labeled “Others like this.” At the bottom of the image a reads: “Both count.” This illustration is saying that showing up consistently matters, regardless of how much energy or enthusiasm you have on a given day.

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If you’ve been subscribed for a while, you may have noticed I’ve not sent out a newsletter in over a month. That miss has been gnawing away at me daily. A lot of it has come from setting priorities around health and family (see my last email). But if I’m honest, more of it comes from breaking the streak built over several years.

What’s funny when you aim for a goal is that the misses often teach far more than the bullseye. And my recent misses on the newsletter have retaught me the importance of consistency and more importantly momentum.

Showing up doesn’t mean showing up perfectly.

Some days will splash. Some days will drip.
Both water the garden.

What garden are you watering as we head into the holidays? Hit reply. I’d love to know!

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📐 DESIGN

In this short clip with my buddy, psychologist and executive coach, Corey Wilks, he asks:

“It’s been one year since you’ve passed away and only 1 visual metaphor you’ve made has lasted. Which one do you hope it is?”

Out of 800+ visuals, selecting only one was tough, but I hope the “why” behind the answer helps at least one person avoid making this same mistake highlighted in the clip.

🔮 ENCHANTING

Illustration by milaniCREATIVE.art comparing vision and execution. On the left, a tall stone castle is labeled “Have a big vision,” with a small figure standing at the top. On the right, the same castle is shown in faint outline, almost like a blueprint, while a figure in the foreground pushes a single brick into place, labeled “But start small.” The illustration shows the idea of pursuing ambitious goals by taking small, consistent steps.

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The magic isn't in starting big. It's in starting.

If only I learned in my 20s that your entrance doesn't need to match your ambition. And if there’s no door? Build that first.

Dreams don't care about your starting point.

🧠 ANALOGY

Illustration by milaniCREATIVE.art comparing the outcomes you want with the effort needed. On the left, a warm campfire is labeled “The warmth you want…” suggesting the success people desire. On the right, an axe chops firewood on a stump, labeled “…lives in the work you’re avoiding,” highlighting that the results we want often lie on the other side of uncomfortable or tedious effort. The message in the illustration is about how meaningful results come from doing the hard, often overlooked work.

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You can't sit by a fire you didn't build.

Funny how this works everywhere:

→ Sore muscles before strength
→ Messy journals before clear thoughts
→ Years of "no" before overnight success

The warmth you want lives inside the work you're avoiding. Let's get after it!

🤓 WHAT I’M READING NOW

“Gold” by Rumi, translated by Haleh Liza Gafori

One of my recent favorite ways to explore metaphors is through poetry. And where better to study the play of language and analogy than the great Persian poet, Rumi! My favorite translation is in “Gold” translated by Haleh Liza Gafori.

It’s a humble book, with no visuals at all. And I can’t say every poem resonates, but the passages that make me pause, sing to the soul.

Tip when reading poetry: Try to read it out loud and to take it slow. The goal is not to finish the poem, but to feel the poem.

One of my absolute favorites from the book:

Don’t think!
Quit pouring thoughts like kerosene,
on everything fresh and green,
burning it to the root.

Be a fool! Drunk on Love, soaked in awe
till dry reeds are sweet as sugarcane.

A lion leaps out of his cage.
A man leaps out of his mind.
Bravery is delicious madness.

Rumi

And I can’t stop thinking about this one:

A flower steps out of its tight bud,
gives its nectar, gives its gold.
How do we do the same?

Rumi

Shoot me a reply if you have any thoughts on these passages, cause I’m kind of in love with them. 🥰

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