The Boredom of Consistency

The "Hustle Porn" Trap

Scroll through LinkedIn or Instagram, and you’ll see the highlight reel of the Malaysian startup scene. The launch parties at swanky bars in Bangsar, the signing ceremonies with ministers in Putrajaya, the frantic, exciting late nights in a coworking space in Cyberjaya.

It looks exhilarating. It looks like a movie.

But when young founders ask me, Dave Chong, what my actual days look like running DJC AI, they are often disappointed.

"My day?" I tell them. "I woke up at 6. I reviewed the same sales dashboard I review every morning. I answered 50 emails. I had a difficult conversation about cash flow. I wrote a document. I ate lunch at my desk. I reviewed the dashboard again."

It’s not sexy. It’s not exciting. It is profoundly, undeniably boring.

And that is exactly why it works.

The Myth of Constant Excitement

We are sold a lie that entrepreneurship is about constant innovation and lightbulb moments. In reality, 5% of the job is the "big idea." The other 95% is the relentless, repetitive execution of that idea until it works.

In Malaysia, we have a culture of "chasing the new thing." Whether it's the crypto wave, the NFT craze, or now the AI boom. Founders jump from trend to trend, looking for that initial dopamine hit.

But building a real business—one that employs people and generates profit—is about doing the same thing, slightly better, every single day for 10 years.

The "Nasi Lemak" Principle

Think about the best Nasi Lemak stall in your neighborhood. The one with the queue around the block at 7 AM.

Did that uncle or aunty get there by "pivoting" their recipe every week? Did they get there by rebranding their stall every month?

No. They got there because for 20 years, they woke up at 4 AM. They cooked the sambal exactly the same way. They steamed the rice exactly the same way. They showed up when it was raining. They showed up when they were tired.

They mastered the Boredom of Consistency.

In the tech world, we think we are above this. We think "move fast and break things" means "never do the same thing twice." But if your sales process changes every week, your sales team can't get good at it. If your product roadmap changes every month, your engineers can't build deep features.

Why Boring is Profitable

At DJC, we have a rule: "If it's boring, automate it. If it's still boring, do it anyway."

Here is why embracing boredom is a superpower:

1. Compound Interest: Consistency compounds. One sales call does nothing. Ten sales calls do nothing. But 10 sales calls every day for a year is 3,650 calls. That builds a pipeline. That builds a business.
2. Predictability: Investors love predictability. They don't want a rollercoaster; they want a train schedule. They want to know that if they put RM 1 in, they get RM 2 out. You can only achieve that through consistent, repetitive processes.
3. Mastery: You cannot master something you only do occasionally. You master the things you do repeatedly.

How to Fall in Love with the Grind

So, how do you survive the boredom without quitting?

1. Stop looking for applause. You won't get a standing ovation for answering support tickets. Find satisfaction in the completion of the task, not the recognition.
2. Gamify the mundane. I track my metrics religiously. Seeing a number go from 10 to 11 gives me a micro-hit of satisfaction, even if the task was dull.
3. Remember the "Why." I don't love reviewing legal contracts. But I love the freedom and impact that building this company gives me. The boredom is the price of admission for the life I want.

The 10,000th Time

The first time you pitch your startup, it’s terrifying. The 10th time, it’s exciting. The 100th time, it’s routine. The 1,000th time, it’s boring.

But it’s the 1,000th pitch that lands the Series A. It’s the 1,000th line of code that fixes the bug. It’s the 1,000th customer support email that turns a critic into a superfan.

Don't run from the boredom. Embrace it. That’s where the money is.

Dave Chong DJC AI Sdn Bhd