“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” – Dwayne Johnson.
Looking at any successful person, no matter their accomplishments, we can see that consistency was a part of their journey to achieve their dreams. The formula for success seems to be skills + consistency = success. Yet the second part of this formula can be challenging to implement.
Because success is not as easy as ordering takeout, we all have set goals but have yet to achieve them. These failures are most likely not a result of a lack of talent or bad luck but a lack of consistency. Continuously showing up and staying focused in a world of distractions, never-ending obligations, and a mountain of responsibilities can initially feel impossible.
Luckily, failure isn’t the be-all and end-all. Here’s how to finally be consistent no matter who you are or what life throws at you.
What does it mean to be consistent, and why is it important
Consistency is like watering a plant. If you want the plant to grow and be healthy, you have to water it routinely. Similarly, you must continuously practice certain behaviors or skills to improve yourself professionally or personally. It’s the small, actionable steps you take to achieve your goal. It is not the giant leap from point A to B rather than the building blocks that create your tower. When we are consistent, it helps rewire our brains and change our behaviors to achieve a goal in mind.
Not only is consistency vital to achieving goals, but it’s also an essential element in business. The people who consistently show up for their audience build trust and loyalty. People like to work with those they can rely on. If you consistently deliver quality work on time, your boss can see that you are reliable and can be trusted with specific responsibilities and promotions.
It’s important to note that consistency isn’t tied to motivation, so you can’t use lack of motivation as an excuse. The diagram below is an excellent example of how motivation, while beneficial, isn’t always reliable. Say you have a goal to run every day for the next 30 days to train for your marathon. Motivation will get you out of bed during the first week or so of training. But consistency will get you out of bed on day 17, whether you want to sleep in, feel like going for a coffee instead, or lack the motivation.
Courtesy of Liz Fosslien
Consistency is crucial because it helps you move toward your goal on good, bad, and mediocre days. When you rely on consistency, you tend to achieve more goals, feel happier, and have a sense of accomplishment knowing that you started something and stuck with it.
Why is it so hard to be consistent?
Although we know consistency is important, it can be challenging to maintain. Here are some reasons why you may be struggling with this life skill.
Many believe consistency means perfection. For instance, say you want to write daily to be a better writer. You start strong with 15 days of consistent writing, but you miss a few days after that. The mistake many of us make is giving up because we got off track for a short time. That negative voice in our head overpowers us and tells us to give up.
Yet, what if we looked at consistency through a different lens? Perhaps consistency doesn’t mean never failing but continuing to move towards your goal despite interruptions. Let’s consider some reasons why we haven’t been consistent in the past.
Unrealistic expectations: We’ve all had that new goal energy where we’ll read 50 books in one month or get our side hustle up and running in less than a week. Sometimes, we fail at being consistent because we don’t give ourselves a running chance. We create big and audacious goals without realizing we have set ourselves up to achieve them.
Discounting times we have been consistent: You may have overlooked times you have been consistent because of the all-or-nothing mentality. Returning to the previous example, where you didn’t complete 30 training days but were consistent for 20, which is better than none.
Now that we know consistency isn’t always black and white let’s look at how you can develop a new relationship with it.
How to always be consistent
Consistent is a muscle; the more you work at it, the stronger you’ll get. Here are some ways to retackle those goals.
Be consistent by creating a habit. The best way to stay consistent is to make it a habit. When it comes to your goals, focus on the outcome and the habits you need to create to achieve that goal.
Consider sustainability: Take an audit of your life. Do your current schedule and responsibilities allow you to be consistent with a new goal or activity? Sometimes, to stay on track, you need to adjust your life to align with what you want to achieve.
Make it easy: We often aren’t consistent because completing a task is too complicated. Consider how you can make consistency easy. For instance, if you want to be more consistent in drinking water, try carrying a water bottle so it’s easy to consume.
Reward yourself: Our brains respond well to rewards. Therefore, if you set short-term goals and intend to reward yourself when you complete them, you’ll be more likely to stay consistent.
Plan for failure, and don’t give up. Setbacks are bound to happen. To help you follow through, plan for things to happen. For instance, if you’ve noticed what things in your environment help you stay consistent and things lead you to get off track.
The most important thing to remember is to give yourself grace. Being hard on yourself and amplifying your negative self-talk won’t get you closer to achieving your goals. Instead, ask yourself what you can do to improve. How can you do better next time? Like a fighter in the ring, if round 1 didn’t go the way you planned, reevaluate and do better in round 2.
