Consistency
Consistency and repetition equal results. Being consistent is just about the only thing that will actually produce sustainable results. Meaning, very rarely will a one-time action allow for a long term goals. Improving incrementally and applying the trial and error idea go hand in hand with the idea of being consistent. Another important ingredient is accountability which is a topic for another day.
For example, any time we go about learning something, we need to study and practice. If we are wanting to become more fit or flexible, the best results come with a regular routine. Even training a dog or horse requires repeated interactions.
All the intensity in the world cannot produce the same results as consistency over time. Think about a time when you didn’t study for an exam and last minute try to ‘cram’. Or maybe thinking running a race with pure willpower vs preparation would get you through. While this technique may have worked a handful of times, it may have also resulted in injury or a poor score on a large portion of a final exam.
“…inconsistent behavior leaves no choice but to operate out of intensity as the time necessary for consistency has long since passed…. From our faith, to our habits, to our health, consistency consistently makes intensity a fool.“
Quinn Rivera // Humbled Daily Co-founder, doctor in training and aspiring professional lover of life. (https://www.humbleddaily.com/)
Real Results
Consistency and repetition are the fastest ways to actually get to a final result! This may seem counter intuitive at first. It may seem that doing something once and going all-in is the answer. But in most of life’s opportunities, going through the process of learning, applying, adjusting is the only way to truly achieve the real goal. Seeing real results provides more motivation to keep going, and thus progress is made. Not just progress toward your goal but also progress in the journey – soul progress. The closer to you get toward a goal, the more clarity comes to what you really want.
Soon I will be writing a post about, “What do you really want?”. The thought behind this is that, typically we truly are in search of a feeling, or the journey versus just the end result. Recently, I’ve been considering this more and more. It isn’t just the fact I want to be able to do a back walk over to do circus tricks. Or for that matter, see the world upside down. Instead, it is that I want to prove to myself that I have the self-discipline, love for my body and resourcefulness to do what needs to be done everyday to work toward this goal. If I just wanted to do one back walk over, I would probably just go to a trampoline park and do a back flip in the air.
Action
Goals
Back to our originally schedule program regarding consistency. Take your goals list out, or make one fresh! After all, it is the start of the second quarter of 2021. All of my corporate and sales-y friends make give me a hard time over my observation of the quarters. But it’s just such a good way to keep track of the year going by.
Purpose
Anyway! Remind yourself of your goals in one way or another, if you have been have a particularly hard time getting motivated, go back to your purpose for each of your goals or revisit and create news ones.
Research
Take the time, if you haven’t already to research what others who have achieved similar goals have done to get there. For example, when I decided to start this blog, I researched what other successful bloggers were doing. Related to: how many times they were posting, how they grew their audience, their monetization methods and much more. Once I had a baseline idea of some of the things and put my own flavor to it, I wrote down the top 3 habits and actions that would produce results.
Application
Once you have actions associated with each of your goals, go to your calendar and prioritize those actions. This might be as simple as, ‘call friends’ during this block of time to build better relationships. Or it could be as intense as making appointments with a language coach. Either way, put it in the calendar and remind yourself of why you truly want to get to the end goal.
Time investment
One last thing I would like to mention here. Being consistent and following through with your prioritized actions is a time commitment. The better way to describe this use of time is an investment. You are choosing to take an action consistently over time, making small improvements each round which WILL produce results. If for some reason the time commitment feels burdensome or off, re-check your priorities and your purpose and ask yourself if the end goal is something you really want.
