How to be consistent and why it’s important

Why is consistency important for achieving greatness? And why do we neglect the importance of consistency when seeking money?
Many people are searching for easy ways to make money1, which implies they are not planning to stay consistent. But why are so many not willing to stay consistent to earn money?
In every other aspect of life consistency is key:
- If you train for a marathon2 you must run regularly
- If you need antibiotics3 you’ll not just eat a bunch of pills at once – no you would eat one every day for two weeks maybe
- Are you suffering from cancer4 you cannot expect to get well with only one treatment
- Are you looking to build a relationship, then a single date is not enough you must see each other consistently
What is Consistency?
Consistency is being dedicated to reach specific goals and staying focused on the activities and elements that bring you closer towards your goals. To stay consistent requires long-term commitment and it demands you to repeat certain actions over a long period.
Consistency might be the difference between succeeding or failing at achieving your goals.
why aren’t many willing to stay consistent when it comes to money5?
Simply because making money is one of the things in life where you can “cheat”. Some win the lottery and boom they are millionaires overnight.
Others are lucky to meet the right people at the right time, thus making a lot of money fast. This leads to many people perceiving money as something you can earn a lot of overnight, so why would they bother stay consistent?
It’s not like running or being seek. You cannot just run for a week, and then be the best marathon runner in the world. And you cannot just take a pill once and then you don’t have cancer anymore. People know that, they know you cannot just “cheat” the system with luck when it comes to running or overcoming an illness.
But with money people are having another perception, and that’s dangerous.
Why is consistency important?
There’s multiple reasons why consistency is both beneficial and important. And I’ll list 10 reasons why right here:
1. Consistency is the foundation for long term achievements
As mentioned your goals and dreams will never become reality if you are not willing to stay consistent over a long period of time. Consistency is simply a necessity for you achieving your wildest dreams.
2. Consistency enables you to develop new habits
When you first start trying to develop a new habit, it can be hard because your body and mind are comfortable with the habits that you already have. They don’t want to develop new habits that are different from the ones that they are used to. But, if you can get yourself to do something every day, the new habit will eventually replace an old one, and become a part of your routine.
3. Consistency helps you build momentum
To lift off into the air, an airplane has to go down the runway for a bit before taking off. This operation gives the airplane the momentum it needs to gain the speed needed to take off into the air. Consistency is similar. It allows you to build up the momentum needed to achieve your goals, without consistency, you would be running around with little or no progress.
4. Consistency helps you become disciplined and develop self-control
5. Consistency builds self-confidence
6. Consistency helps you differentiate what is important from what is not
7. Consistency sustains accomplishments
8. Consistency attracts admiration
9. Consistency inspires those around you
10. Consistency opens doors to opportunities
With that out of the way, and by knowing consistency is important, how do we then become more consistent?
How to be consistent?
It’s easy to see why so many nowadays cannot be successful – they are too addicted to all the social media and watching series on Netflix. It has never been easier to procrastinate than it is today. So how do we increase our chances of staying consistent?
5 ways to be consistent
I’ll give you 5 ways for how to stay consistent whether you are writing on a blog like me or starting a business.
1# Create specific and realistic goals
First, if your goal aren’t specific you’ll never know when you reached it, thus it will be hard to stay focused. For instance if my goals were to make money, I’ll already have made it when the first dollar hit my bank account since it doesn’t state what amount of money I must make.
Secondly it has to be realistic. If it’s not realistic you may never reach it, and you’ll throw in the towel before you even know it. Take a look at how to create SMART-goals
2# Reward Yourself
When you’ve done something that pushes you closer to your goals, then stop for a minute and reward yourself. Even small accomplishments deserves a reward. It will help you to stay motivated for a longer time, and focus even more on the important tasks.
- For instance, if you managed to write 14 articles every day for 14 days, then take day off.
3# Hold Yourself Accountable
It’s essential that you recognize when you are not living up to specific standards. Ask yourself why you aren’t moving in the right direction, when struggling to meet your own expectations.
- It can be hard to see when one is doing good or bad, thus making a list of daily tasks that you check off as they get completed will help you to recognize if a day has gone great or not.
4# Forgive Your Failures
This one was very hard for me in the beginning, but as I moved forward I saw why this one was necessary for my long-term consistency.
If I don’t acknowledge that I’m just a human with imperfections, I’ll be beating myself up for eternity. You must forgive yourself of skipping a day once in a while – we all make mistakes, and that’s just a part of the game.
Instead see it as a chance for learning something new from your failure. What was it that made you skip a gym session or not replying to a mail?
5# Give yourself time to change your mindset
If you are the type that constantly procrastinate, it will typically take longer for you to shift into the mindset of consistency – it’s totally normal. But you must give yourself time for this shift. By expecting it to happen from one day to another you’ll run straight into a brick wall, it’s not going to happen.
Thus give it time, and consistency will come.
Final Thoughts
Consistency is both important and beneficial when talking about your own success. It can boost your self-confidence and create the momentum you need for succeeding. And to stay consistent requires you to setup SMART-goals, held yourself accountable, forgive your failures, give yourself time to change your mindset, and reward yourself.
“Consistency is key to unlocking your dreams”
Read more about tools here
Annotations
- Benjamin Bailey. (2022) 11 Strange (But Very Profitable) Side Hustles That Are Easy to Start
- IAAF Competition Rules for Road Races. International Association of Athletics Federations. (2009). Retrieved 12 August 2022
- Antibiotics. NHS. 5 June (2014). Retrieved 12 August 2022
- Cancer – Signs and symptoms. NHS Choices (2014). Retrieved 12 August 2022
- John N. Smithin. What Is Money? Retrieved 12 August 2022
- Mind Tools Content Team SMART-Goals Retrieved 12 August 2022
Leave a Reply