This is an article I am excited to write. Learning to be consistent has helped me greatly in achieving my goals but before I got to this point, I had failed at being consistent severally.
So, I decided to do some research on why it was so hard to be consistent.
I asked myself these questions severally:
Why is consistency so difficult? Why is consistency so hard? Why do I struggle with consistency? What am I doing wrong? Why must I be consistent? How can I be consistent and stay consistent? What eventually happens when I become consistent?
Until I got these answers, I never became consistent.
As you read this article, understand this: Consistency is a work in progress but it could become a habit if done effectively.
No one person can confidently say they have mastered the art of consistency. We are all just taking one day at a time.
So, what is consistency, or what does it mean to be consistent?
What is Consistency?
I know this is not the first time you are hearing this word; CONSISTENCY but have you ever truly understood what it means to be consistent?
Have you ever asked yourself why everyone talks about consistency?
Wealthy men talk about consistency. People who are finding their paths in life talk about consistency.
Everyone seems to have one or two things to say about consistency. Even successful people owe their success to consistency.
There must be something we are missing. There must be something we don’t know.
As opposed to its meaning, the definition of consistency is not stable.
Several dictionaries have different definitions of what consistency means but I found one that seems to explain the kind of consistency we will talk about in this article.
Consistency is the state or condition of always happening or behaving in the same way. And to put it simply; consistency is doing the same thing over and over again. It is following a routine or forming a habit in order to get the desired result.
Consistency is choosing to stick with one thing for a long time even when it’s uncomfortable, tiring, and not working with the hope that it will eventually get better or yield results.
Why Should I be Consistent?
If it is so boring, hard, and tiring, why should I do it?
Why should I stick with one thing that doesn’t look like it will ever work?
Why should I subject myself to such discomfort just because I want to achieve something?
One thing you must know is that consistency is not the only key to success. It is one of the keys and the most important key.
Several attributes of successful people are embedded in consistency.
Dedication, Tenacity, Diligence, Resilience, Discipline.
When you are consistent, you will not struggle with achieving your goals.
Take an example of someone just starting a business:
You want to become a content marketer. You have the skills and all it requires — even a social media account. But, you don’t have customers.
Nobody knows what you do. No one has heard about you. You know you have the skills but no one else knows about these skills.
What should you do?
Put yourself out there consistently. Why? Because for people to trust that you are the right content marketer they can trust and work with, they have to get to know you.
They have to see that you truly know what content marketing is and you’re not going to waste their time when they hire you.
But, here is the thing, nobody will trust or know you after just one post on social media. No!
They will only trust you if you have a portfolio that shows samples of the great work you have done for others.
They will only trust you if you give tips and answer questions on content marketing on your social media.
They will probably start trusting you after you have made your 100th post on social media or after you have over a thousand followers that engage well with your page.
What does it take to get there?
Consistency.
This also applies to all areas and spheres of life.
Your career, your relationship, and your spiritual life.
Consistency might be a boring repetition or routine acts but these little acts bring big beautiful results because “Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.” (John Maxwell)
One major thing that happened to me recently on consistency was my Instagram and Linkedin accounts. I had been posting consistently for over 2 months but recently I grew tired and unmotivated because it didn’t feel like I was making progress so I decided to go through all I have done on my Linkedin for the past 2 months and I was shocked with what I discovered.
I realized I had increased in views during those two months compared to the other months I was not posting consistently. I was surprised and excited too. I became motivated to continue posting instantly.
The habit of consistency might be a hassle but it is a worthy one.
Why do I Struggle with Consistency? A Secret You Must Know
Consistency is a routine. A boring job. And one of the things humans struggle with is routine. It is boring. No one wants to live like that.
Consistency is a habit and to form a habit, it can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days for a person to form a new habit and an average of 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic.
Imagine having to do one particular thing or perform an action for so long. Tiring right?
But you must also understand that in forming habits, it is not about doing something for a while but rather about training your body and your mind to get used to doing that thing.
You are training yourself to no longer see that thing as boring work but as an act, you perform naturally.
This can be difficult and this is why consistency is a struggle.
Below are the reasons you struggle with consistency:
You don’t understand why you should be consistent: This is why I explained what consistency means first and why you should be consistent. If you understand why then you will work on it.
You are not disciplined: Yes! It takes a disciplined person to be consistent. Your body does not want you to do anything uncomfortable.
Left to your body and your feelings, you will lie down all day, eat junk, binge-watch movies and sleep after.
Those are the things our body likes. Pleasure. Gratification.
But a disciplined person will learn to say NO to pleasures that will make them unproductive and lazy.
You are not patient: When I first started posting on my Instagram page, I felt I was doing it wrong because nothing was adding up. The aesthetics looked disorganized.
I was not happy that all the work I had been putting in was not yielding results but this didn’t make me stop. I continued posting.
I was tired of overthinking. So, I decided to just let the designs be. One day, I checked my Instagram and I was surprised to see that the pictures had started coming together.
My joy knew no bounds. But what if I had given up?
The same thing happened to my friend and it has probably happened to you too if you are a social media manager or if you have an active Instagram account.
This helps us see that, if you are patient enough to wait for the result, you will not be disappointed. I can assure you.
The Secret You Must Know
One major reason you are struggling with inconsistency is that you’re trying to reach your goal in one day or all at once. But this will only stress you out. This will only weigh you down. You will lose your motivation and eventually give up.
What you must know is that the secret to staying consistent is: Taking one day at a time.
Yes!! Very simple.
I am telling you this secret because it works for me.
When I set a yearly or monthly goal, I learn to carry out my goals one day at a time.
I don’t see my monthly goal, I see one activity I must do in a day to get my monthly goals done.
When you learn to take one day at a time and ensure to fulfill your goals for that day, you will conquer inconsistency.
How to be Consistent and Stay Consistent
So how can you become consistent and stay consistent?
1- Have a plan or schedule. If you need a guide on how to create a working plan and schedule. Download my free Ultimate Planning Guide. It will help you greatly.
2- Discipline yourself to do something when you should do it.
3- Don’t beat yourself up when you don’t do something, rather try again and don’t give up.
4- Study yourself and discover what makes you lazy and what keeps you motivated.
5- Take out time after a while to check what you have done so far and see if you are making progress. Like I did with my social media account. You will realize you have been making progress. This will motivate you.
6- Reward yourself for every goal achieved. This will increase your motivation to continue. Also, don’t forget that motivation is a short-term feeling. So, even if you don’t feel like it, keep working.
The Reward of Consistency
The interesting fact about consistency is that it does yield results. It just takes a while.
So, what reward will you get if you stay consistent?
When you stay consistent,
1- You will realize you trust yourself more. One common thing about inconsistent people is that they constantly feel bad about themselves because they know they can achieve something but they find it hard to do it.
So, if they keep this up for a long time, they start to distrust themselves to the extent that even if it’s something achievable, they are not confident they can achieve it.
This leads us to number 2.
2- When you become consistent, other people will trust you. If you have a business, people will trust that you will always show up and you will keep to time and the deadline.
Because this will eventually show in the course of time.
3- You will feel happy and fulfilled. This is an underrated feeling. This feeling comes with confidence which extends to every other area of your life.
When you know you’re a consistent person, you are able to stand before people and confidently sell yourself or talk about yourself.
You will also feel happy and fulfilled when you start getting the reward of being consistent.
You will realize it was worth the wait.
4- You will achieve your goals. A consistent person will eventually achieve their goals.
One vital lesson I have learned in life is that when you’re consistent, it doesn’t matter what you do, people will eventually notice you and reward you for it.
Consistency comes with a reward. The process might be slow but the reward makes it worthwhile.
So, even if it looks unsure, it is still possible. You can achieve your goals if you don’t give up.
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In our world today, one of the hardest things to do is to remain consistent but the good news is that; it is possible.
Take that step today and you will see how much being consistent will change your life.
And remember; Take one day at a time.
[…] Also read: Why You’re Struggling with Consistency […]