I've been beating myself up these past few weeks because I messed up my weekly Rhoda Report streak.

My goal was to get to 200 issues without missing a week.

I made it to Issue #191, then I missed a week.

I got back into it. Then, to add to my self-inflicted licks, I missed two additional weeks after Issue #194.

The funny thing is that I actually had a draft prepared for this issue. It was sitting there waiting for me. Every time I opened it, something felt off. The words were there, but the message wasn't. My gut kept telling me that wasn't the issue that needed to go out.

So I left it alone.

Around the same time, family came to visit from Colorado. I hadn't seen them in a long while, so I made a decision to be fully present (no work, no clean eating, no charts, and no Rhoda Report).

It was wonderful.

Somewhere between the laughter, the meals, playing music, and the conversations, I found myself thinking about consistency and what that word really means to me.

The revelation I received was enlightening.

As I delved into the roots, history, and evolution of the word, I realized that somewhere along the way, consistency stopped meaning steady progress and somehow became all about perfection. It became this rigid, unforgiving standard where missing one workout, one healthy meal, one investment contribution, or one newsletter issue somehow meant failure.

But that’s not how life works.

And it certainly isn't how growth works.

We create a plan, set a target, and we decide we're going to save a certain amount every month or invest every week. Then, life happens… a child gets sick, a parent needs help, a job changes, a marriage ends, a health issue appears, perimenopause happens, and suddenly our perfect plan gets interrupted.

Instead of adjusting, we start beating ourselves up.

We tell ourselves we're behind. Or, we compare where we are today to where we thought we'd be five years ago.

We focus so much on what we missed that we stop seeing what we've accomplished.

The real damage is convincing ourselves that one missed step means that the journey is over.

The realization made me think about investing.

Most people assume successful investors are people who never miss a contribution, an opportunity, or a market rally.

But I don't think that's what separates successful investors from everyone else.

In reality, there are really only two kinds of people:

Those waiting for perfect and those willing to hop back up every time life kicks them down.

The people who build wealth are not the people with perfect timing. They are the people who keep coming back after an unexpected expense, a market crash, or a season of financial stress.

They come back after life interrupts their plans, and that is what is means to be consistent.

Consistency is the ability to bouce back.

This past week was actually a perfect example of the lesson I've been learning about consistency.

The headlines made it look like everyone was getting rich. The S&P 500 moved higher. The Nasdaq climbed. Nvidia delivered spectacular earnings. Bitcoin surged above $80,000 before pulling back. Crypto recorded one of its strongest weeks in years. Everywhere you looked, someone was talking about gains.

Meanwhile, there were people reading those same headlines and wondering why none of it seemed to affect their finances.

The people who benefited from last week's market moves were not necessarily the people who predicted Nvidia's earnings or perfectly timed Bitcoin's rally. Most were simply people who had been investing consistently long before the headlines arrived.

Many people think wealth is created by finding the perfect stock or buying the next big crypto winner.

In reality, wealth is often built when someone contributes to a retirement account every payday. Wealth grows when someone invests $50 every week whether markets are rising or falling. It grows when someone keeps showing up year after year, allowing time and compounding to do their work.

Many people spend years waiting until they know more, have more money, or feel more confident. Meanwhile, years pass and nothing has an opportunity to compound.

Consistency gives your money time, and time is often the ingredient that turns small investments into meaningful wealth.

If you're feeling behind financially, I want you to remember the following:

The funny thing is that the first two are mostly history.

Today is where all the power lives.

Today's contribution. Today's decision. Today's investment. Today's action.

We spend far too much time looking backward when our progress is sitting right in front of us.

After missing a few issues, it feels good to be back.

For a while, I thought consistency meant never missing. Now I think consistency means returning to your habits, your goals, or your purpose, better and wiser. This is the lesson I hope you take away from this issue.

So if you have fallen behind on your financial goals, stop looking backward. Start where you are. Consistency is not fueled by perfection. It is fueled by the small actions we take each day to keep moving forward.

The people who ultimately succeed are not the ones who never fall off track. They are the ones who keep coming back.

Today, this newsletter is simply me coming back. This is me being consistent!

~ Rhoda

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Disclaimer: This newsletter is strictly educational. The information this report provides does not constitute investment, financial, trading, or any other advice. You should not treat any of the report’s content as such. Please be careful and do your research.