Ever notice that in our lives when things are going well a lot is going well and when things are going bad a lot is going bad? It always seems like life starts snowballing one way or the other. The pendulum starts swinging in a positive or negative direction. The reality is, if we’re not getting better we’re getting worse. Nothing stays the same. There’s either progression or regression.
Now how does the world define consistency? The standard definition states something like: “Consistency refers to the quality of always behaving or performing in a similar way, producing the same results over time, or adhering to the same principles, rules, or standards.”
Yes, the key to growth is consistency but the right kind of consistency. You can consistently hit the snooze and wake up just in time to run out the door in a fog or you can consistently wake up on the alarm and have an extra hour for some kind of positive action to start your day. You can consistently eat doughnuts and sweet rolls for breakfast, or consistently skip breakfast and intermittent fast every day. Where we focus our consistence is up to us.
With the general idea of what consistency is, we can spend some time identifying our own consistent behaviors, both good and bad. Make a decision and decide to become more consistent in only the areas that help you grow. Create good habits with consistency. Create consistency with good habits. It tends to be one of the cycles that works both ways.
Check out this article “The Benefits of Discomfort For Personal Growth”
A Plan To Create Good Habits
A really great book I have read about habits and habit creation is “Atomic Habits by James Clear.” It’s a must read in my opinion. In the book he talks about the habit is the act of starting something, not completing the actually task. For example if you wanted to start a habit of doing push ups everyday it’s not how many you do, it’s the act of actually doing them. If you dropped and did one push up and did this repeatedly every day, you are forming a habit of doing pushups. And usually once we start the action of the habit we want to create, you will continue going on sometimes longer, or with more repetitions, than you initially committed to.
A good plan is to pick one thing you want to accomplish or do consistently. Only focus on that one thing or you could spread yourself too thin. Make it very easy to accomplish. For example you want to start exercising everyday before you go to work. You might have a goal such as “I am going to workout an hour before work five days a week!”. You’re motivated and ready to conquer the world. The problem is motivation is a very short term proposition. You may be able to do it one or two days in a row but odds are you won’t keep it up. Another great book, especially to help create a productive morning routine, is Hal Elrod’s “The Miracle Morning.”
Alternatively you could have that same goal but with a different approach. Decide you’re going to perform five quick exercises(that take roughly about a minute each), and bust it out in five minutes. This is doable and after a week or so you can add more reps, more time and more exercises as it becomes more of a habit and routine. I tell you this because this was my goal and exactly how I now exercise for about an hour every morning. I didn’t start at the hour, I started with the action of doing the short workouts. Over time it just kept increasing and increasing and now I cannot start the day without a good workout.
Tips For Self-Consistency
Control your environment: If you want to eat more healthy don’t keep cookies and potato chips in your kitchen and especially in plain view. Clean up and clear out anything that can or will create resistance towards achieving your goals.
Fight your resistant subconscious: Initially it will be a fight with your brain whether to carry out your new plan or not. You will need a little willpower the first few days but in my experience after doing something consistently for 3-5 days it becomes way easier to accomplish. It won’t be a habit at that point but you will be on your way to creating that consistency. Our brains understand repetition so doing new things makes us uncomfortable. Doing the new things every day normalizes them and over time they become routine.
Don’t focus on the goal: Create the goal but don’t focus on it. When creating your end goal it’s key to develop daily systems to accomplish it. Focus on the systems as you build up your good habits.
Put it on paper: Write it all out on paper. Write it all; your plans, your goals, and your systems. Not only that but I suggest tracking your daily progress. Have a checklist you can check off to help keep you accountable to yourself. When you see a list of what you have to do it reinforces it in your mind.
Only one at a time: Once you start establishing a system, habit, and/or routine for your initial goal, you can start with the next consistent behavior you want to develop. I suggest only focusing on one at a time to help ensure success and to prevent being overwhelmed.
Don’t let it get to two: If you miss a day don’t beat yourself up and decide to quit. I have a saying I tell myself if I have a bad day where I don’t or can’t get it done. Say to yourself, “Don’t let it get to two.” It’s going to happen sometimes but that is a security blanket for us. Yeah we failed today but we’re not failing two days in a row. It’s another reason to keep it simple and small during the initial phase so it’s easy to accomplish.
It’s such a great feeling when we are consistently growing in the right direction. Each little step, every time we cross something off our to do list we grow and improve. Our goal should be to become a tick better every day, a percentage better everyday. The best in the world aren’t the smartest or the ones willing to work the hardest. The best in the world are the most consistent in their respective areas. Decide today to be more consistent in one area of your life and watch the pendulum start swinging in the right direction, the good direction.
Buy the best selling James Clear book “Atomic Habits” on Amazon
But the best selling Hal Elrod book “The Miracle Morning” on Amazon