Scat ya bitch...

"Scat ya bitch your tail's on fire!" That's what my grandmother said every time I would sneeze in front of her. When I was a kid I thought it was hilarious. I still have no idea what it means, but I love it. A few years ago, in the process of developing more tools that I could use to communicate with my coaching clients, I realized that SCAT was the acronym for one of my favorite sayings, "Small consistent action over time makes lasting change." Small Consistent Action over Time = SCAT. (...and it always makes me think of my grandmother.)

As I've mentioned before, structure has never been my friend. I've avoided it whenever possible, so things like being consistent have also been a big challenge for me. Even when I was taking piano or guitar lessons as a kid, I was terrible about regular practice. I just didn't do it. I would still play, but not necessarily what may instructor asked me to be working on. Over the years I learned how to play better by getting up on stage in front of people. I feel lucky to have had enough talent and chutzpah to make that work, but I've often wondered if I would've gotten farther along much faster if I had a better relationship with consistent practice. And the whole talent and chutzpah thing will only get you so far.

As I've learned to cautiously embrace more structure, I've also learned how to be more consistent. It's still a work in progress, but I'm always impressed at the power of something so simple. So obvious. For a long time I created actions that were too big, or too far from my natural way of working. I could always count on myself to get started and then peter out over time. Sound familiar? Repeating the pattern of starting something and not seeing it through over and over can undermine self trust.

In learning to be more consistent, meditation practice has been my greatest teacher.

I like to say I flirted with meditation for years, but never asked it out on a real date. I remember pretending to meditate when I was a kid. It seemed like a cool idea, but I had no clue what I was doing. In college, I took a philosophy of Zen and Taoism course, and we meditated in every class. That got me started for awhile, and I dug it, but then I left school, moved a couple of times, got busy and I drifted away.

About a decade ago, I started dating meditation. Nothing serious, but it felt like there was a spark there. Then at some point, like in so many relationships, I had to ask myself, "Where is this going?" I wanted meditation in my life, soiIt felt like it was time to take the next step. I wanted to see what would happen if I kept going past where I usually stop. I wasn't looking for any big result. I wasn't reaching for enlightenment, or any particular feeling, I just worked towards being consistent.

What is consistent? Is that every day? Is it more? Is it less? That depends on you.

On one hand, if I start meditating for 5 minutes per day 2 days per week, and I wasn't meditating at all before and I keep doing it, then I'm certainly being more consistent than I was. To start out, I made a deal with myself to meditate 5 days a week for at least 5 minutes. I gave myself weekends off, so it doesn't feel too structured! ??

Gradually I worked up to at least 10 minutes per day. I can do more if it feels good, and there are weeks where I don't make all 5 days. When I miss a day (or 2) I simply start again. In the past I might have had some thought like, "Well I already screwed this up, so what's the point?" and I might have quit. Instead, I just start again. No story. No judgement.

What I notice over time, is that everything about meditation has changed for me. We're in a committed relationship now. It's become something I do very naturally, and if I miss too often I really notice it and want to start again. Now I find that I can outline small actions to take around all kinds of things I want to accomplish and be consistent at them. The meditation practice has strengthened my consistency muscle. I've had the experience of being consistent at something, so I trust that I can do it again.

When I want to make a change or take on something new, I try to break it down into the smallest most doable action. Then I look at where I can fit that into my life. If I can stack it on to another habit (habit stacking is good), then I have even more chance of being consistent.

When it all feels like too much, or I have a string of days when my routine goes to hell and I don't do anything I said I would, I just remember my grandma saying "Scat ya bitch your tail's on fire," and I start again.