Achieve Your Goals Through The Magic Of Consistency

Consistency seems to be a boring idea at first sight. It lacks that glamourous allure and excitement. But, when you look more closely, consistency is anything but boring. It contains the secret of achievement and success. It is the key to an almost magical power than can transform lives.

Consistency means repeating the same behaviours regularly and without exceptions. Consistent behaviour is the opposite of erratic behaviour. Skipping workouts is an example of erratic behaviour. Performing all or most of your workouts is an example of consistency. Skipping your morning journaling is not in keeping with consistent behaviour. Showing up a whole week for facebook lives on your business page is consistent, but not if you then fall off the face of the earth in the eyes of your audience for the next month.

Consistency creates powerful habits; lack of consistency and exceptions mean that you have to start building the habits all over again.

Consistency allows the seeds to grow and the fruit to arrive. Regular, patient, consistent action is necessary to achieve good results. Even winning the lottery requires buying a ticket and entering the numbers. 

A woman who won the US $162 million lottery is quoted as saying, that she played the same numbers consistently for two years. She didn't play it once or twice and give up as so may people do. 

She steadfastly believed that her dream of winning the lottery would someday come to fruition. Consistency, then, may occasionally work even in the notoriously risky world of gambling. 

Recently, I read an outstanding article by T.J. Walker, the public speaking and communication expert. He commented on how often communication breaks down on the internet because of a lack of consistency.

Ezines, blogs and podcasts often only last for one or two issues / seasons and then they disappear. Either their creators ran out of material or foolishly expected success after one or two efforts and gave up when the results of their efforts were disappointing. 

Most marketing gurus insist that sales only come after about seven email messages have been sent to a list of potential customers. 

Many would be entrepreneurs lack the patience and consistency to send out even seven messages to their lists. They are unlikely to succeed in winning the trust of their customers.

Nearly any goal worth achieving demands regular and consistent efforts. If you want to achieve a black belt in a martial art, you need to show up to one training session after another whether you feel like it or not.

I know, from many years of experience, that students who show up regularly for training almost always achieve their goal of becoming a black belt, or showed up for their audience and gained that first 1000 loyal fans. 

However, I have had some very talented students who lacked patience and only showed up sporadically. When their progress up the ladder of success seemed too slow to them, they gave up and disappeared. Either they just threw in the towel altogether or they did the classic 'pivot' that we hear so much about, trying a new method, the latest marketing fad or a new business completely.

When I hold group coaching or 1:1, I often congratulate my clients for just being there. Even if they don't implement a thing I tell them, I praise them that they are already half way because they have shown up and in the famous words of Woody Allen: "80% of success in life is just showing up." 

By showing up, my clients have shown that they have guts and are willing to accept the fact that they might look foolish if they forget something on a livestream, or implement a strategy badly, or worse don't understand something because its new but are embarrassed to ask for further clarification. Not every one can face this possibility and a lot of clients quit before they even really start because they don't want to fail publicly or fall flat on their face with the whole eyes of the internet watching them. 

Never be afraid to show up, and show up as you are. You don't need to be perfect to get started. In fact don't get me started on the concept of perfect and perfectionism, I wasted most of my life chasing these grand illusions, striving for something that you can never actually reach. But showing up now, as you are, willing to learn, willing to strive, willing to move forward, that's perfect or as close to it. We can tend to get a little ancy when it comes to timing and lack the great virtue of patience these days in an age of instant gratification, but even that is perfect, everything happens when it is meant to and not when we want it to or try to force it to.

Greatness only comes when efforts are consistent. Champion teams win championships not because they win every match but because they consistently play well and with determination and, as a result, win most of their matches. 

An individual loses weight because they stick consistently to their diet and to their exercise regime. A body builder adds muscle weight because he or she consistently attends the gym whether they feels like it or not. The champions do not give up when they feel tired or bored or when results seem painfully slow. 

Daily efforts create habits and habits make it easier to make those daily efforts but it still takes hard work and the determination to follow through every single day no matter what. We are after all only human.

To achieve your goals repeat your efforts every single day. Turn up in the gym or wherever you need to. Don't be the one who is always told: "You won't even turn up for your own funeral!" 

Occasionally you may have to make an exception and miss out on the desired behaviour. But recognise whether these are a valid genuine reason, or resistance masquerading as another excuse, no matter how compelling the argument may sound. One way to avoid exceptions is to perform the behaviour you have planned as early as possible in the day before the rest of the family and the world start demanding your attention! Another way to tell whether it is a valid reason or just good old resistance rearing it's ugly head is whether or not you feel contracted or expanded at the very thought of the action or behaviour.

Another way to avoid exceptions is to make a list of your most important daily behaviours in order of importance. Stick it on your wall and read it as soon as you get up. This way, your consistency will not falter because of a poor memory. 

Repeat the desired or planned behaviour daily and with as few exceptions as possible and you will make gradual but certain progress and eventually achieve your loftiest goals and dreams. 

Even if you don't achieve all your goals and dreams, you will have at least become a great character and a person of value because you did what you planned to do on a daily basis. That, at least, is a goal worth achieving.

So I will leave you with this one question, "Do you want to be known as the girl who put her money where her mouth is and showed up consistently, took the action she said she would and achieved what she set her mind to (even if your goal wasn't achievable at least you tried). Or do you want to be the flaky one, the one that no-one really pays attention to anymore, the one full of all these great ideas but never follows through on anything, the girl who when her time was up was left with nothing but wonder and regrets?"