I have been saying that to people a lot lately. Success takes effort and time. Now that I think about it, effort and time could probably be considered the definition of consistency. Though now that I think about that, consistency is possible without effort, as you could consistently sit on the couch. Most likely that would not lead to much success.  

I guess the point I am trying to get across is often people start off fired up about something, but over time it fades and they stop putting effort into it. Lately, I have put a lot of effort into blogging at RailsTips and I have noticed results. Pageviews have increased. Comments have increased. You can have a spike of success through great effort over short period of time, but if you do not consistently put forth effort, it will remain just that, a spike. Spikes in success are exciting but with effort and time, one day you will look back and that spike will seem pretty small.

I guess the kind of funny thing about me saying that success takes time and effort (see how I changed the order, just noting that) is that it assumes that I have known success. You might not think of me as that successful but I would respond that success is relative. Always aim high, but never feel discouraged by the fact that there are bigger dogs out there. Likewise, you should never feel over confident about the smaller dogs.