Consistency in thoughts and behaviour will lead to better outcomes. When you stray from your actions or can’t make a decision, you are diluting the power of your intentions. By becoming aware of how you can consistently show up for yourself in different aspects of your life, you can make the necessary changes to reach your goals. Success is easier to achieve when you know what you are doing and why. You don’t need all the answers in advance, but you do need a system to get you there. By shifting your focus to consistency over results, you are more likely to reach your desired outcomes.
Starting Small
Whenever you are trying to make a positive change in your life, you need to start small and build up. If you try to take on too much too fast, you are more likely to fail and give up. You don’t just wake up one day and decide to run a marathon without consistently training for it. By breaking down goals into actionable steps, you can have small wins along the way. Why is this important? Because you need to see progress, regardless of how small it may be.
What is key to this overall equation is consistency. By showing up daily, you can create the change you are looking for. Don’t have time? It doesn’t have to take a lot of time, but it does require a commitment that you will do something. By consistently doing something, you get to the point where you create a new habit. If you understand that consistency is key, you are ahead of the game. The next step is developing a system to support that consistency. If the environment isn’t set up for it, or if you haven’t thought about how to go about it, you will most likely fail.
Figure out the how and the why up front, in other words, your system and motivation. With each repetition, you are building the foundation for a permanent change. We often identify with the things that we consistently do. So if you are trying to be a healthier person, you need to take actions that consistently support that version of you. You don’t have to be that person yet. The more you do it, the more you will identify as being that trait.
Aspects Of Your Life You Can Implement Consistency
Consistency can have a positive impact in all areas of your life. From your home life to work life, improvements can be made everywhere. Why bother? By finding ways to grow, you can improve your overall quality of life. And most people believe there is room for improvement. Reflect on one key part of your life that you would like to see a positive change. Then work on a system to help you practice the new behaviour consistently.
Sometimes piggy-backing onto an existing behaviour helps you implement the new one much more easily. For example, if you already make the bed everyday consistently, practice breathing exercises for 5 minutes before or after you make the bed. If you mentally bundle up the practice of behaviours, you are more likely to get to it.
Alternatively, if you know that you are triggered to do behaviours that are not in your best interest at a certain time of day or after certain situations, be proactive in seeking a change by preparing a change of pattern in advance. Many can relate to the late afternoon energy crash. Be proactive and pre-pack a nutritious, energy-fuelled snack that will get you through the rest of the workday. This eliminates poor choices. Grabbing a low-nutrient snack out of a vending machine costs you money, your health, and a subsequent energy crash. You can also choose to move instead of having a snack. This can release pent-up frustrations and energize you at the same time. A quick 10-minute walk around the block or some dancing to your favourite tune is all it takes!
School or work life
Consistency is valuable when going to school to help you learn your subject-matter and ultimately get you to graduate. Some would argue that by just showing up to class, you can at least pass your courses. And that is true to some extent. Consistent effort in your area of study will also help build foundational skills for when you enter the workforce. Discipline that you develop in school is transferable to any job.
More importantly, consistency in learning can be a lifelong pursuit, regardless of age and circumstances. Personal development leads to overall well-being.
Consistency in your approach will lead to more opportunities once you enter the workforce. It is a trait that is often measured in some format by supervisors. When they need someone to step up, those who are consistent tend to be the ones rewarded, even given promotions.
Consistency in behaviour often leads to the impression people have of you. Beware that this can be positive or negative. If you consistently show up late, this is not going to benefit you in any way. On the flip side, if you consistently show initiative, you become easier to work with and people will like having you around. It can also lead to better work relationships and opportunities. Additionally, to stay relevant in current job markets, consistently improving your skillset will make you a desirable candidate for any employer.
In personal relationships
When it comes to personal relationships, consistency is also important. If you show consistency to your friends and family, they will know what to expect from you. An aspect to really consider when it comes to your close personal relationships is the consistency of your boundaries. Having boundaries only works when you stick to them. If you are inconsistent in how you uphold your boundaries, you are sending mixed messages, leading to those boundaries being violated. Then you get frustrated and it can potentially escalate a situation. If you let people cross the line, that responsibility also lies with you.
Personal self-care
The most important sphere of consistency is when it comes to self-care. Without self-care, you are risking everything in your life. You need to come first in your life. If you don’t have consistency in your self-care, you are most likely struggling to balance everything else in your life. By focusing on consistency when it comes to self-care pillars, you are sending yourself the message that you matter. All of us will have bad days, but you can show yourself you care by being consistent in your return to self-care behaviour.
Showing up in some form is better than not showing up at all, flexibility is important. So if you are too tired to exercise, scale it down in intensity and/or duration, don’t skip it altogether. If you tend to be too tired to cook during weekdays, do a big meal prep on the weekend to avoid just grabbing take-out or binge on junk food. If you’re trying to increase your water intake, and by lunch you haven’t had a single glass yet, your system isn’t working. How can you set up a system to support you in reaching your daily target consistently?
In some instances, showing up occasionally can be harmful. You need to really get to the root of what you are trying to achieve. For example, if you are trying to quit smoking, you’ll be more successful if you are consistent with your intent and behaviour. By sneaking a smoke hear and there, you are sending yourself the signal that you really don’t want to quit.
Take action every day to make your life better
Consistency of thoughts and behaviours is more important than what you actually do or to what intensity. Through consistency, we build habits, and with long-sustaining habits we create change. Consistency gets easier the more you do it. Turning something into a routine means that you no longer require as much focus to do it or it doesn’t feel like a hardship to do anymore. If you know your motivation behind what you are trying to achieve, it will also make it easier to push through the hard days and maintain consistency.
No matter what you decide to do in life, if you do it with consistency, you will succeed. How do you measure success? Is it finishing in the top three for the marathon, or is it enough that you ran it? By breaking it down into a system that you can consistently take action on, you are setting yourself up to reach your desired outcomes.
IMAGE CREDIT: Unsplash | Mārtiņš Zemlickis.