Start with Consistency

Success requires good habits and good habits are formed by cultivating consistency.

My parents, teachers, and coaches taught me that anything can be achieved through consistency, but it doesn’t mean consistency is the easiest thing to maintain. I still have to continue cultivating it in my everyday life.

When the alarm goes off, sometimes it takes everything in me to not hit the snooze button and go back to sleep. But it’s the consistency that gets me up. Motivation isn’t reliable and there are more distractions now than there have ever been, but when you have good habits to back it up, those external distractions don’t matter.

Doing the things that are going to propel us forward aren’t easy. But if they were easy, then everyone would be doing them, wouldn’t they?

If you want to cultivate more consistency in your life, there are a few things I’ve learned along the way that might help you, too.

Define your area of consistency

The first thing is to recognize where you want to be more consistent in your life.

• Are you trying to stick to a workout routine or maintain a balanced diet?
• Are you trying to go to sleep earlier?
• Are you trying to read more or learn a new skill?
• Are you trying to get your work done in less time? Or are you trying to stop procrastinating on what needs to be done?

If you’re trying to be more consistent in more than one area, I’d encourage you to start with one thing at a time. Routines and habits foster discipline and consistency and the more you try to pile on, the harder it will be for you to maintain it all. There’s no need to overwhelm yourself because one of the best parts about building new habits and building up that consistency muscle is that it tends to be the catalyst for the next routine.

The momentum begins and before you know it, you’re implementing another habit in your life.

Create your habit plan

Don’t wait for the habit to form on its own. You have to be the one to construct it. One of my goals for this year is to read more. My planning process might look a little like this:

1. I want to be more consistent in my reading practice.
2. To achieve this, I will read 15 pages a day.
3. If I want to read 15 pages a day, I will start with 1 page in the morning and 1 page in the evening.

If you’re wondering why I’ve only included 1 page in my plan, it’s because I’ve used the smallest measurement I can to begin to grow momentum. The reality is that once I read one page, I probably will read another one and then a third one, and so on.

The same can be done for almost any habit you want to create. Because doing one of anything isn’t difficult and if you can do just one of whatever it is you’re trying to do, then chances are, you’re going to be able to grow your momentum.

Do you want to walk for 20 minutes a day? Start by walking for 1 minute. Are you trying to get something tedious done? Start by working on it for just one minute. You may be surprised by how the momentum will carry you.

Look out for your distractions

Distractions aren’t easy to avoid, but it does make it easier when you know what they are.

Distractions can look like scrolling on social media and sitting in front of the TV, but they can also look like cleaning or running errands. Whether they’re a positive or negative distraction, anything that is keeping you from doing what you need to get done is considered a distraction.

In my case, if I want to read 15 pages a day, it’s probably better that I don’t do it in the living room where there is a lot of commotion because it will be far too easy to get distracted.

Find an accountability partner

Finding a support system can make all the difference in achieving what you want. If you know someone who is doing something similar to you or even something different, you can both hold each other accountable.

This can be a friend, your partner, a sibling, your parent, or anyone you know who will challenge you and help you reinforce consistency in your life.

Reflect and make adjustments

Set regular check-ins with yourself to review your progress. If something needs adjusting, then change up your strategy and try again the following week or month. Regular check-ins can also be a great way to celebrate your progress because even small wins are worth celebrating.

If I set aside time in the mornings for reading and found it difficult for reading and the evenings proved to be better, then I’d make that adjustment. Sometimes, it can be a good idea to make adjustments if you’re someone who needs to shake things up from time to time. If after a few months, you’re getting restless of the same thing, then that’s okay! There’s nothing wrong with wanting to change up your strategy to a routine as long as you’re keeping the routine.

Keep pushing yourself even on the days you may not want to and give yourself grace on the bad days because we all have them. As I mentioned before, cultivating consistency and routines isn’t easy, but they are worth it to achieve the bigger-picture goals I know you’re after.

What are you trying to achieve?