Consistency: Is it the proven key?

What is Consistency?

Consistency refers to the quality of staying the same at different times. When talking about consistency, it may sound easy, but it’s actually very challenging. If you are doing something and you aren’t consistent in it, you probably won’t achieve your desired result.

Example:

Jessica is a 20yr old who weighs 90kg. She wants to lose weight. She gives herself a span of 6months to lose 20kg. There are different strategies to use in losing weight; exercise, dieting, etc. Jessica wants to use the exercise.  Jessica needs to exercise for 1hour daily in order to achieve her goal. (Her goal is to lose 20kg in 6months).

For the first week, she exercised for 1hour daily, but the next week, she got tired and reduced the exercise to 4 days a week. The week after that, she reduced it to twice a week. At the end of 6months, do you think that Jessica would have lost up to 20kg? I don’t think so. And why didn’t she achieve her goal? It’s because she wasn’t consistent.

Everything requires consistency. You have to be consistent in your academics, career, relationships, etc. There’s this quote that says “Consistency is Key”. We can all agree that people have different views concerning things. From my perspective, I feel that Consistency is needed to achieve any goal. So literally, consistency is the key and the lock is a success. Just like in the example above, Jessica’s goal was to lose 20kg but because she was not consistent, she couldn’t achieve her goal.

Success isn’t always about greatness. it’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success

Dwayne Johnson

How to be consistent

• Create SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound) goals: It’s hard to be consistent if you don’t have a strong idea of what you need to do. When starting your new path, create easy, simple goals with specific, measurable results.
• Create a schedule for yourself: A calendar, planner, or schedule will keep you on track. A schedule will help you plan your day so that you get everything done on time. It will also help you understand what commitments you do and do not have time for.

• Keep reminders around your home, workspace, and belongings: Sometimes, it is easy to forget our new goals, habits, commitments, or promises, especially when we make them to ourselves. To remind yourself throughout the day, put messages to yourself in visible areas.
• Make promises only if you can keep them: Consistency often involves making commitments and keeping them. It is easy to get overwhelmed, however, if you make too many promises. If you think a request may be difficult to do, say no.
• Reward yourself when you get something done: If you do complete your goals, give yourself a reward. Even small goals deserve small rewards to help keep you motivated throughout the process.
• Keep going if you make a mistake: Even the most consistent and well-organized people slip up sometimes. Plan for potential failure, and don’t beat yourself up if you make a mistake along the way.
• Take time off to recharge: Consistency doesn’t mean that you are working all of the time. In fact, if you give yourself time off, you’ll improve your productivity and avoid burning out. Schedule time for yourself, and don’t let work or other commitments get in the way.
• Use motivational tools to keep going even when you don’t feel like it: When you’re tired or stressed, it can be easy just to let your goals slide for a day, but these actions can quickly cause you to get off track. If you’re feeling down or lazy, try to find new sources of motivation.
• Give yourself time to see changes: Whenever you try to establish new habits, understand that it can take time. Instead of uprooting your life with several new practices at once, allow yourself time to figure out what works. Be realistic with what you can expect to see over time.
• Set boundaries for your commitments and personal relationships: Boundaries make it easier to keep commitments because you have a specific limit in which to function. Before taking on new tasks or promises, establish what you are willing and able to do as well as what you know you really can’t do.
• Build your willpower: Consistency requires willpower to achieve because consistency tends to lean towards performing even when you don’t feel like it. To do that, you need to have the willpower to do it.
• Eliminate negative thinking: Negative thinking is the bane of consistency and of willpower. When you think negatively you are making yourself less likely to be able to hold to your consistent actions.