If you’re like me, you probably have a long mental list of things you’ve been trying to finally be consistent at for a long time.
Items on your list may look something like:
- Having a personal devotion every day.
- Working out.
- Writing consistently.
- Building a business.
- Saving money.
You know those things will make your life a lot better if you keep at them. So, you start them at the beginning of a year — or a new season — excited. You’re excited about the better version of yourself that would slowly emerge as you stay committed to that thing.
But after a few days or weeks, the excitement drops, and you miss a day. Well… you try to get back on track, but you miss another day. Then two days. Eventually, that thing becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with, and you fall off completely.
And no matter how much you want to go back to doing that thing, it suddenly feels so difficult and boring than when you first started — even though you know how much staying consistent could change your life.
If that sounds familiar, this post is for you.
Thankfully, this blogpost will not be one of the hundreds of resources you thought would teach you how to finally be consistent with your commitments. It is that resource that will get you to finally stay consistent with your goals and visions.
The truth is that for the most part, we’ve gotten the concept of consistency all wrong. So how can we ever become consistent when we do not even understand what consistency is truly about?
In this post, I’ll share 5 important things about becoming consistent that will change how you view the concept, and also empower you to finally become consistent with the things that matter.
Consistency Starts with Placing a Premium on Yourself
If you truly want to finally be consistent, then start by placing a premium on yourself.
If your boss at work or the president of your country asked you to show up at their office at 7am every day for a period of 6 months, we know you’ll never miss a single day.
Why’s that?
Apparently, you do place a premium on both of them.
Why then are you doing such a horrible job at staying consistent with something you decide to do for yourself?
The answer is clear – you do not yet place a premium on yourself, even when you say or think you do. Read this blog to see the clear signs that show you do not honor yourself.
When you do not see yourself as valuable, you will not consistently keep the promises you make to yourself.
You may try for a while. But you’ll eventually stop halfway, not because you’re lazy, but because deep down, you don’t believe you’re worth the effort long-term.
But when you place a premium on yourself, and the deposits God has placed in you, your word to yourself begins to matter, and you’ll begin to realize that you’re worth every good commitment you make to yourself.
Stop Looking for Motivation to be Consistent
One of the reasons you’ve always failed whenever you try to get consistent is that you’re relying on motivation to get going. But motivation is the wrong buddy to lean on when you really want to do what matters.
You know why?
Motivation is emotional. It comes and goes, and is influenced by your mood, sleep pattern, stress levels, and even what other people do to you. So, it is totally unreliable.
Instead of motivation, what you need to rely on to finally be consistent is structure. And structure looks like doing that thing, whether you feel like it or not. It looks like placing that task right next to non-negotiables in your life. Finally, structure is about making your physical and emotional environment conducive to what you want to stay consistent with.
Consistency Thrives with Habits
Setting goals gives you clear direction for where you’re headed. But if you want to be consistent with those goals, habits are what you need.
You know why?
Habits reduce the need for constant decision-making whenever you want to act on that task. Once an activity becomes habitual, it no longer feels like you’re exerting effort doing it. At this point, consistency becomes very easy.
If you want to finally be consistent, research suggests you do that one thing every day for about 66 days. This way, you make that thing a habit, and it starts to feel more natural.
Read this blogpost to see how you can break down your goals into actionable steps for habit formation.
Work with the True Big Picture
If you’re doing something because:
- You saw it on Instagram.
- Someone else is doing it.
- It sounds impressive.
You’ll likely never get consistent at it because you’ll definitely quit as soon as the novelty wears off.
To finally be consistent at anything, you need to answer three questions honestly:
- Why do I want to do this?
- What will my life look like if I stay consistent with this thing?
- What negative outcomes will I face in future if I don’t keep at this?
First of all, when you have a personal, significant reason for doing something, there’s a substantial amount of capacity for consistency that automatically tags along.
Now, when the reward of staying on track exceeds the comfort of falling off, or when the consequences of not being consistent are worse than not taking action now, you’ll find it easier to stay consistent.
However, if any of these questions will work for you, you need to make the rewards and consequences real and personal.
For example:
You want to finally be consistent with posting your work on social media every week.
The reward: You’ll put your work before more potential clients and increase your chances of getting new offers. When those offers come, you can improve your financial and living conditions.
The consequence: You miss out on the opportunity to get more offers. Consequently, you financially stagnate yourself.
Use a Streak System
If you’re bent on using motivation to finally be consistent, then you should use a streak system.
A streak system works because, as humans, we hate breaking patterns. There is a kind of satisfaction and motivation we derive from seeing how much progress we’ve made in any endeavor. And a streak system helps you keep track of your progress.
When you mark your calendar consistently for taking action for about 10 days, you’ll stop wanting to do the task just for the outcome. Instead, you’d want to do it because you don’t want to break your streak. Well, that’s a good win if you ask me.
To set up a streak system, you can use:
- A physical calendar
- A habit tracker
- A simple notebook
Mark every day you show up. And in a short while, your streaks will become the motivation to stay consistent.
Conclusion – Join BRUTE
I hope you’re able to finally be consistent when you follow the steps above.
But if, for any reason, you do not get the results you want, then I have created an accountability hub where I stay on your neck to keep you on your toes and consistently working on your goals.
BRUTE combines all of the steps we’ve discussed. But you also risk losing money (yes, it’s not free) if you’re not consistent in the hub. You get back 50% of your money if you are consistent with your goals.
So, go ahead and register here. Your goals have waited for too long.
