3 Truths That You Need To Know About CONSISTENCY

I hear about this topic so much, and it makes sense, consistency is hard. But there is some fake news out there about consistency. I am going to tell you what the truth really is and how to truly become consistent in whatever it is you are pursuing. 

1. Consistency is not about never messing up, it's about never giving up.

What do I mean by this? Okay, I am going to let you in on a secret. If you follow me on Instagram you have seen that I committed myself to the #75Hard Challenge. You are supposed to adhere to the challenge rules and guidelines every single day, no break, for 75 days straight. I am currently on day 51, BUT I have messed up on my challenge commitments before. The first time I messed up I started over. I was pretty discouraged and was only reminded of how grueling the challenge would be. The second time I messed up I was pretty deep in and I would be set back a few weeks by starting over. This absolutely made me want to give up entirely. This challenge was impossible for anyone with a freaking life! 

I decided to do this instead. I just picked up my responsibilities and commitments the next day. The next day I was fine and I was actually more encouraged to not mess up again. A few more weeks went by and I fell short again. Instead of giving up I decided to keep pushing. I was no longer pushing because I wanted to complete the challenge, but because it felt good to not give up. I had become more consistent in my imperfection than when I was "perfect" in my commitments. This literally blew my mind! How is it possible to be more consistent in inconsistency than in consistency!?

It's simple psychology my friends. Joe Rogan has referred to this on his podcast when talking about working out. The term is called the Pavel Tsatsouline protocol. When working out, which method is going to make you want to workout again? Doing a reasonable amount of reps and getting a good pump in but not reaching your maximum amount of pushes or pulls, or pushing your body to the point where it can’t function normally anymore by tearing your muscle fibers to expedite muscle growth? I think I would be more encouraged to continue after the first option, to say the least. You don’t want to emphasize perfection and pushing your limits so much that you want to give up or don’t want to continue. Give yourself room to want to come back and pick up where you left off.

2. Consistency is only attainable through planning.

It is impossible to remain consistent by just going with the flow. Life does not permit such things. Life is unpredictable, therefore, the actions you take toward your goals should not be unpredictable as well. You have to combat life's unpredictability with some form of predictability. The best way to create this predictability is by planning your day the night before. This works wonders for your day! It not only helps with your consistency, but it helps with your overall productivity. 

Plan to be consistent in whatever your commitment is. Plan around the day's events so that you know how and when you will perform whatever your tasks are. You can even plan for worse case scenarios. I try to work on my business matters (outside of my job) for at least two hours every morning, but I also know that this doesn't happen all the time. I plan out alternative space in my day in the evening for any hiccups that occur in the morning. Consistency, especially positive consistency, only happens through intentionality, not by accident. 

So the next logical question is, well how do I consistently plan? And the answer is in point numero uno. You don't consistently plan. The key is to never give up on planning. You may not be able to plan every day. No one is perfect! Stop thinking that the people you see on social media and on Ted Talks actually DO what they say every single day. I can guarantee you they don't, but I am sure they have the intention to be consistent and never give up on those commitments they make. That is where true consistency is formed and created. Just never give up on planning. It will change your life. 

3. Consistency is maximized through accountability. 

If you really want to be consistent, you will hold yourself accountable. Not only will you hold yourself accountable, but you will also let others hold you accountable as well. Make sure find get a GOOD and DEPENDABLE accountability partner. Do not let your buddy or girlfriend be your accountability partner. It does not work! Now I do not know your friends so this is a blanket statement, but generally what you want to do is get an accountability partner who is a few steps ahead of you. Some who is where you want to be soon. This provides a sense of "I don’t want to let this person down" in your relationship. You don't want to be looked at as a joke by someone you admire. 

For example, if want to start writing more I am not going to remain accountable with my friend wants to start writing more also. I am going to reach out to someone who I know already has a consistent blog, writes books, or writes and performs poetry. If I tell that person what I want to commit to and then don't follow through I lose some of their respect, and I care more about their opinion than I do my equal peer who doesn't really have the authority to tell me anything.

If you cannot find this person in your life there is another alternative, social media. Social media can be a great accountability partner. I told everyone who follows me, over a thousand people, that I was doing the #75Hard challenge. If I failed or even just quietly fell off, I may not look like a complete fool, but in the back of everyone's mind they know I failed. If you say you are going to lose or gain "X" amount of pounds and then don’t, people are going to look at you through a lens of failure and shortcoming. You don't want that! Knowing people are paying attention to your goals gives you an extra push to remain consistent. 

Lastly, if you just don't give a flying flip about what anyone thinks about you I know something you do care about, money. If you're serious about getting your stuff together put your money where your mouth is. There are a couple of accountability apps that will whip you right into shape. The most popular and the one I recommend is StickK. You pick a common goal, or define your own, and put money on your commitment. Money is optional, but it's the most common prize choice. So let's say you are committing to exercising a certain amount of times per week. You can put $50 on your commitment. If you fall short of your commitment you have to pay that 50 bucks. Now here is the really cool part! You can choose where that money goes. It can go to a friend, and enemy, a charity, or even anti-charity. So that means if you are pro-life, your money will go to support a pro-choice charity. The bottom line here is that there is no excuse for you to not have some form of an accountability partner. 

So those are the three truths about consistency that everyone should know. 1. Consistency is not about not messing up it's about not giving up. 2. You have to plan in order to be effectively consistent. It just can't happen on the fly. 3. Maximize your consistency by having an accountability partner. There are multiple forms so you have no excuse. 

If this article brought you any value or knowledge smash that share button so you can be an ambassador for change and growth. If you have any other tips about consistency I would love to hear them. Leave a comment or message me directly on LinkedIn. All in all, make sure you keep building your vision every day.