5 Tips to Create Consistency
In my post from last week, I wrote about why consistency is crucial. Consistency breeds success for all the reasons I’ve already mentioned. So how do you do it? How do you become more consistent? What follows are five tips culled from business maven Marie Forleo.
1.) Keep the why in your eye
If you don’t know why you’re doing something, you’ll likely stop doing it. If there’s not a compelling goal, if there’s not juice behind your actions, they’ll fizzle out. For instance, if you’re hoping to achieve peace by using meditation, you’ll keep meditating because peace is appealing. If it’s something to do because everyone else is doing it, well, it’s likely meditation will fall off your radar. It’s the same thing in business. Why are you doing what you’re doing? The “why” will act like a propeller and help you to fly.
2.) Pick your poison
Oftentimes when a person gets excited, they want to do too many things at once. Upon learning about a new diet, they’ll read all the books, make all the recipes, and then get overwhelmed and stop. If you truly want results and are thinking long term, go slow. Don’t change your whole life all at once. Perhaps add in a new recipe a week and then once you’ve mastered it, try a new one. And then another one. And then … For your business, if you know you want to incorporate more social media, pick one platform like Instagram or Facebook, and devote your attention to it instead of trying them all at once.
3.) Schedule it
Plan around your priorities. Build your life around your priorities instead of trying to squeeze them in. If you know every Thursday at 6 p.m. you go to the gym for a Zumba class, you’re more likely to stick with it instead of saying, “One day this week I’ll go to Zumba.” It’s easy for “one day” to become “no day.” As a freelance content writer, I have specific days that I write my blogs. I build my day and my life around it. If I’m going out of town, I’ll write a blog in advance because it’s just that important to me and has become a part of my routine.
4.) Hop over the feeling hurdle
After you’ve done something long enough, there will come a time when a part of you says, “I don’t feeeeeeel like it.” Sometimes it’s important to honor that voice and say, “OK. We won’t do X.” But sometimes, like parents say to children, “I know sweetie, but do it anyway.” Discipline requires doing things even when we don’t feel like it, because we know it’s good for us. And also if you keep your eye on the why (tip one), it will be easier to hop over the hurdle of “I don’t wanna.”
5.) Try again
It’s easy to get discouraged when we don’t honor our commitments. When we say, “I’m going to blog every Sunday” and then don’t. Or try to stop smoking and find ourselves with a cigarette in hand. This is usually when people fall into a shame spiral (“I’m not good enough.” “What’s wrong with me?” “I can’t do it”) and then quit.
Quitting is totally allowed. Sometimes it’s the best decision a person can make for themselves. But you know what else is allowed? Trying again. Trying as many times as you need until you get your desired outcome. I’m sure there is a rare gymnast who sticks the landing after learning a new routine, but more often than not, the person falls and tries again. Falls and tries again. Until one day, the landing sticks. And all that falling, or some might even say failing, is worth it.
How do you stay consistent? Let me know in the comments below. And if you liked this post, share it with your friends. As always, if you need help maintaining a consistent blog presence, give me a shout. As a freelance content writer, this is my area of expertise.
