Keeping It Simple: Consistency
The most dramatic action that can carry you successfully through this time of COVID is something that can be looked at as monotonous. What is that dramatic action? Consistency.
No matter what canvas you are talking about, consistency is gold. It doesn’t matter whether you are addressing diet, training for athletics or business, consistency of action is the most important element to achieving dramatic, impactful and fulfilling results.
Three killer weeks of training followed by two weeks of being sick does not make a champion athlete. Shocking your body with a super strict diet can give huge initial gains but will likely end as we have all seen that turn out: a huge swing back in the other direction and back into an unhealthy pattern.
In work there is no profession that rewards someone who utilizes the basics on a sporadic basis. Using whatever the repetitive foundational actions are in your field of choice is what will outclass any other strategy. It’s all about consistency.
Consistency builds momentum. Momentum helps maintain consistency.
Is what you are doing right now sustainable or will you end up burning out? Is what you are doing day after day healthy or will it eventually cost you your health? Even if what you are doing is matching the goal of being consistent, is it actually effective or you just keeping yourself busy with ineffective actions that will never lead to your ultimate goals?
Consistent steady work takes patience, however. Consistent rarely gives noticeable changes from one day to the next. Yes, it might look monotonous. The gains can seem infinitesimal. But have patience. They will come!
Consistent training, continuous healthy eating, effective sustainable business practice all have a way of not only taking you forward each and everyday but also lays down a foundation as you go that keeps you from falling backwards.
Consistency works over time. It doesn’t work overnight.
The good news is that one day you will look back and see how impactful your efforts have been. You’ll understand how far you have come. You’ll enjoy the rewards of being consistent now during COVID to keep you going in a positive direction and to carrying you on into the future.
My consistent these past few months has a few elements. Everyday I do at least one form of exercise if not two. Rarely is any of that super fast or really long. Consistency loves a certain amount of moderation. I reward myself in my diet by eating healthy super flavorful foods. It’s never boring! I make sure I end the day knowing I completed at least one if not several dedicated projects in my work. And with all that I know there’s nothing more I need to do when my head hits the pillow.
And I try to tune into the bigger picture of life, to the things that are timeless and not effected by a virus. I watch the sun set. I listen to the ocean near where I live. My garden is always inviting me to just take a few minutes and enjoy its peace. These are all soothing actions for my soul.
Of course there’s always room for more, but at the same time I wake up the following day knowing I can continue to piggyback on my efforts done today. And that is the foundation of consistency!
Enjoy this Shed Talk on Consistency:
Join us and be consistent at Mark Allen Coaching.