Consistency and the Race to the South Pole

In 1911, British explorer Robert Falcon Scott and Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen both aimed to be the first to reach the South Pole. Them and their teams would be pushed to their limits, but only one would come out victorious.?

Scott had made an attempt in 1902 but ultimately?failed, due to illness and sub-zero temperatures. He had learned from his previous failure and recruited a better team for his 1911 attempt.?

Amundsen had originally planned on being the first man to explore the North Pole but shifted plans when he heard it had been reached. It lit a fire within him to beat the British to the South Pole.?

Before we move on and give the current context you have, who do you think made it to the South Pole first? Why do you think they made it there first??

The first advantage goes to Amundsen as he was 60 miles closer to the Pole due to him Docking his boat at Ross Island. Scott had docked at Cape Evans, which was much more suitable for scientific explorations, yet further from the Pole. Scott would also face higher elevation for longer due to his chosen path.?

The next advantage goes to Amundsen. He had taken 65 dogs with him to the first camp. From there he killed 11 of them and used them as food and fuel for his men and remaining dogs, ultimately?leading to his men and remaining dogs gaining weight. Scott had superior technology in motorized sleds but they kept having issues and were unreliable. He also had ponies to carry supplies but their snowshoes?made them very inefficient as they weren't?used to them.?

The final and most important measure, who was more consistent in their performance? Scott and his men often took days off as it was too cold to move to the next camp, burning threw supplies with no result of ground gained. Amundsen had a strict schedule and kept his men to it. They were to get up every morning and make it to the next camp, regardless of the weather or how they were feeling. This could've proven to be detrimental but they kept on moving forward. From Amundsen's perspective Scott had motorized sleds and would surely beat him if he didn't keep pressing forward no matter what. Advantage Amundsen.?

Who made it first??

Amundsen and his team would ultimately?arrive at the Pole first, proving that his plan had worked for him.

Scott arrived at the Pole 33 days later. Him and his team were demoralized. Scott and his group ended up starving/freezing to death in their tent on the way back, just 11 miles away from their next camp.?

Why do I tell you this story? You will find in life that there are times you aren't feeling particularly motivated. Motivation comes and goes, it is hardly linked to success. Everyone has experienced motivation at 1 in the morning and gone on a run or cleaned a portion of their house that they haven't touched in months. The real killers are the people who do this regardless of how they are feeling on a consistent basis. My all time favorite Ted Talk is by a psychologist named Angela Duckworth. Here and her collogues tried to figure out what was leading to success of students in the classroom. They studied students at all levels. They looked at their IQ scores and found it was a weak predictor. When they analyzed consistency, or grit, they found the students were more successful. You have to stay consistent?if you want to reach the highest levels of performance.?

Working in SaaS sales I have observed this very principle in play. I've seen reps have a really strong months and then take their foot of the gas, leading to a poor month. Having a KPI's to drive toward and staying consistent in hitting them is very important, especially in any role carrying a quota and developing pipeline. The strongest performers are consistent.

Most likely a lack of consistency in your life might not kill you like it did to Captain Robert Scott but who knows it might. You will be much better off to develop the discipline of consistency and reap the rewards it brings.