Consistency. A middah worth millions.
And one of the hardest to master.
We’ve all achieved consistency somewhere in our lives – eating, davening, Daf Yomi, even hanging our coats on that hook in the hall.
Which means we already know something important: we can be consistent.
And we also know that if we mastered consistency in fundraising – think five donor calls a day or one meaningful donor interaction daily – success would be almost inevitable. No scrambling. No long stretches of silence with donors. No pressure spikes.
So why don’t we do it?
Because consistency takes effort.
Because it requires overcoming inertia.
Because building a new habit is uncomfortable.
Difficult? Often, yes.
But sometimes, the problem isn’t discipline at all.
Sometimes it’s the environment.
I struggled for years with Shnayim Mikra. I’d fall behind, plan to catch up over Shabbos, struggle to do that… and fall even further behind. A classic vicious cycle.
Until I made one tiny change that changed everything:
I moved my Chumash from the bookshelf to my desk.
That small tweak perfectly illustrates an idea Dan and Chip Heath describe in their book Switch. They call it a situational problem.
Something in my environment was working against the goal I wanted to achieve. Once I tweaked the environment to work with me, consistency became dramatically easier.
When my Chumash lived on the shelf, there were too many steps between intention and action.
When it sat on my desk, it stared at me every time I sat down – until I picked it up and got the job done.
Struggling to stay consistent with basic fundraising activities?
Maybe it’s not a motivation problem.
Maybe it’s a situational one.
Maybe a tiny environmental tweak can move you miles closer to consistency – something as simple as bookmarking your fundraising app so you can log a call or send a follow-up in two seconds instead of thirty.
As James Clear writes in Atomic Habits:
“When we reduce the number of steps between ourselves and the habits we’re trying to form, we lower the activation energy needed to jump-start that behavior.”
As you start the week, ask yourself:
• What situational problems might be quietly sabotaging consistency?
• What one small tweak could make the right action the easiest action?
Have a productive and successful week,
Avraham
P.S. Before the day ends, make one tiny change to your environment that removes friction from a key fundraising habit – donor calls, follow-ups, or thank-yous. Don’t overthink it. Small changes compound fast.
© 2026 Avraham Lewis & Co.