The struggle for consistency will look different in every person's life based on their individual goals and lifestyles. The following are general tips which will be helpful to many of you.
1. Make a decision
Without making a conscious decision to pursue your goals consistently, week after week and day after day, you will not be able to do so. It takes a true effort on your part to be consistent so you must decide to do so. This can't be a light decision where you say "I'll try to be more consistent", rather it must be a committed decision. You must be firm about your decision to pursue consistency.
2. Determine a realistic time commitment
Take some time and evaluate your life. Evaluate all the different roles you have in your life. You might be a mother, a husband, an employee. You might have roles with your church, with other organizations, or with a sports team. Determine how much time you realistically should be putting in to each role on a weekly basis, and if possible schedule in your committed times. Use this as a starting point to determine how much time you should realistically put towards your various goals every week. Whether that is two hours, four hours, ten hours or more; determine the appropriate amount of time that you can commit consistently – ever week! Make sure this commitment is realistic, so probably take your initial estimate and scale it down a little. If you set a commitment that is too high it will lead to burnout and you won't follow through. You may want to use my weekly planning system as part of determining your time commitment.
3. Set specific times
The next step is to take your weekly calendar and mark in when you will actually be spending your time pursing your goal. Determine what days you are going to do activities, how much time each day, and when those hours fall. For example, one of my goals is to grow my blogs. That means taking the time to write good articles. To do that, I have set aside thirty minutes a day for writing. These thirty minutes occurs almost immediately after I get up in the morning. Because it is a specific time, it quickly develops into a habit. Another goal I am pursuing is growing my affiliate home business. Part of this goal involves phone meetings with business partners and potential clients. On my schedule, I have one time slot each day set aside for one of these phone meetings. I used to try to do as many as possible, and found that I would do a lot for a little while and quickly burn out. After burning out, I wouldn't do any for a long time. That is NOT staying consistent. By scheduling only one time each day for a phone meeting I keep up a steady consistent pace.
4. Stick to it
To be consistent you need to stick to your plan. You likely will get off track from time to time. When you do, get right back on your plan and start moving forward again. You will need to refocus in this way from time to time. Also periodically revisit your time commitment and scheduled times and examine whether they are still appropriate. You will need to make revisions as you go along and move towards your goals. Also, at some points you will achieve a goal you are pursing. Take some time to celebrate and then determine what the next step or new goal that you would like to accomplish.
5. Try, try and try again
Staying consistent is a learning process. It takes time to learn how to build your life around consistent action. Certainly some people find this comes naturally, but for most of us it consistency does not come easy. That may be true even if you are excited and passionate about what you do. It is easy to burn out on your passions by spending too much time in those areas. As you continue to work towards consistency, you will get better. If you have made a firm decision to make consistent progress towards your goals, you will get there. Work your plan each day and each week. If you find yourself losing consistency, recognize it and refocus yourself. Over time you will get more and more consistent.
The great thing about consistency is that as you pursue it, you will see results. You will see yourself moving towards your goals step by step. You will find yourself breaking through the difficult inertia of the early stages and building momentum. Whether your goal is losing a few extra pounds, getting out of debt, building a part-time business, or learning a language, consistency will help you succeed.
Written by:
Danny Gamache – The Success Professor
