Being nice when you’re in a good mood is weather. Being nice every day is climate. People plan around climate.

Reliability is a pattern rather than a peak. Almost anyone is pleasant when things are going well, so kindness on a good day tells you very little about a person. What people organize their lives around is the behavior they can predict, and prediction is built out of unremarkable days. That is what makes steady decency so valuable and so uncommon.

Aim for a slightly lower ceiling and a much higher floor. Be decent on the days you do not feel like it, especially with the people who see you most. Over a year that becomes what your name means.