Consistency.

That was the only word on my mind when I published my first newsletter two new years ago.

I was only three months into my writing journey with no real clue about what I was doing. But one fact was obvious to me: If this was going to go anywhere I needed to build a consistent practice. The best way I knew to do that was to set deadlines and be held accountable for showing up.

So I set the one-word theme of 2024 as consistency and committed myself to publishing a newsletter every Tuesday of the year.

Today marks the 105th Tuesday in a row that I've stayed consistent.

But I knew from decades of playing music that consistency alone isn't enough.

Without continued study, deliberate practice, and experimental exploration progress halts. You start thinking you already know what you're doing. You get comfortable repeating formulas that worked in the past. Like a tree in a small dishbowl, growth stunts.

But learning how to play music took many years. Surely in 2024 I could shortcut this process, right?

So, I started using AI to help me ideate newsletter topics. I invested hundreds of hours into my Notion second brain. I read tweets and watched YouTube videos with punchy frameworks for better writing rather than read books that taught the craft. With all these digital tools at my fingertips I felt like I was speedrunning my way toward mastery.

That is, until I actually read a book on mastery, aptly titled Mastery by Robert Greene and came across this passage:

My soul fell out of my gut. I was the fool Greene was writing about.

Apprenticeship.

That was the only word on my mind as I sifted through the shelves at Barnes & Noble, looking for mentors to study under.

That one-word theme defined my 2025 in more ways than I could've expected.

I ditched Notion and went back to my notebooks. AI got fired from its brainstorming duties and I promoted my mind to fill the responsibility of generating ideas again. Short-form content got the boot and I dedicated myself to reading books every day.

Efficiency was no longer the goal. Learning, and taking the time it takes to learn, was the only thing that mattered.

This theme extended past writing. I took up a 30-day drawing challenge early in the year. I learned how to create relief prints out of those drawings. I got obsessed with notebooks and decided to make my own. My prints became the cover art. I found that I liked making things with my hands and learned how to make leather covers for those notebooks. Next thing I knew I was making a messenger bag to carry my books, notebooks, pens and pencils everywhere I went.

Everything I did I wrote about in my journals, and in this newsletter, because explaining my process helped me understand what I was doing at a far deeper level.

While it may seem like a random journey of hobby hopping, every skill fed into the next and ultimately, helped me become a better learner.

Setting a one-word theme for the year is a filter to focus your mind.

That one word is your North Star when decisions pull you toward opposite paths.

Write it down in your notebook or planner for the new year.

Define for yourself why that word is so important to you for the coming year.

When life inevitably derails your plans, open up that notebook to refer to your one-word theme, and let it guide you in the right direction.

I already know what my word is for 2026. What will be yours?

Prompt:

Determine what your one-word theme of 2026 will be.