Consistency is often what separates successful people from those who fall off the track and never reach their goals. But let’s be honest, staying consistent is hard work. It is always easy for the first couple of weeks but there always comes a time when putting in the work takes increasing amounts of effort.
However:
This is the hard truth, and therefore consistency is the magic key to your success. Here I share many tips which will help you push through the uncomfortable moments, the doubts, the lack of motivation. This is the guide you need to stay consistent and achieve everything you deserve in life.
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Why can't I stay consistent?
The main reason why people struggle to stay consistent is that too often they are focusing on the outcome rather than the process. Getting to the end and reaching your goal will take time. If your only focus is on the end goal, you are more likely to get impatient with the journey, and therefore, staying consistent and continually working towards it can become difficult.
Achieving your end goal is important, but it is equally important to find ways to enjoy the journey. The following tips will help you shift your mindset and make the journey more enjoyable and help you stay on track with your goals for the long haul.
How to stay consistently consistent?
1. Ask yourself why you really want it.
In order to stay consistent, you have to be clear on why it is that you want to achieve this goal. You need a clear and compelling vision of your dream. So, the first step is to ask yourself and answer as honestly as possible:
- What it is that you want?
- Why do you want it?
- How will it change your life if you do get it?
- Are you willing to go through the learning curve?
- Are you willing to take time out for this even if it means some sacrifices?
If it makes it easier you can write your answers down or create a vision board to help you see the wider picture.
Make sure this is your dream. The clearer your vision the more likely you will stick to it. Place your vision board in a place where you can refer to it and see it often. Or make a habit of reading through the answers to the above questions.
2. Create specific and realistic goals.
When setting your goals and milestones it is important that you are realistic on what you can achieve and in what time frame. It is easy to get excited and overestimate. However, this can halter your consistency because you may feel discouraged if you are repeatedly not achieving what you set out to do. Therefore, being very specific about your goal is crucial. Break your goal down into smaller chunks and milestones so it is easier to assign the right amount of time to them.
3. Focus on one thing at a time.
At times when you look at your goals, you may start feeling overwhelmed. How will you ever be able to achieve all this? These feelings are normal and hopefully breaking up the tasks into smaller chunks will help with this as well. Know that you do not have to do everything all at once. You want to achieve everything in the shortest amount of time but in reality, in most cases achieving your goals will be a long-term game. Therefore, try to priorities your goals and tasks and focus on one thing at a time. You have to pick your battles because feeling overwhelmed can lead to more procrastination and stop you from staying consistent.
4. Make a schedule.
Making a schedule is one of the surest ways that you can stay consistent. There is something about writing your tasks down and making do to lists that get you motivated to do the work. It’s a great way to keep yourself accountable and therefore more consistent. First, it will help you be more conscious of your time and how long the tasks will take. Second of all, it will help you in prioritising everything. If this goal is truly your dream, making a schedule will help you build your life around your goal.
5. Make consistency a conscious choice.
Staying consistent has a lot to do with your mindset. You can read through many tips on how to be consistent. However, at the end of the day, if your head is not in the game, it will be difficult. The reason we struggle with consistency is that oftentimes, the tasks are long, daunting, or difficult. You may begin losing your motivation and start wondering if it is all worth it. In those times, you have to make consistency a conscious choice and push through.
6. Fight your emotions.
You will have doubts and you will have lows. You will feel like giving up and you will wonder if you are just wasting your time. I want you to know that this is normal and every single person who has ever achieved anything they desired, has been through this. This is important to know because it shows you that the key to success is to stay determined and push through those uncomfortable feelings.
Speak to people you love and trust who will support you. Keep reminding yourself why you started and why it is worth going to achieve your dream. Journal and practice gratitude to celebrate the small wins.
This is one of the most comprehensive goal planners I have ever owned and I recommend it if you want to get serious about reaching your goals.
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7. Motivation and discipline.
Feeling motivated is great. If you are working towards a goal that means a lot to you then you will likely have plenty of days where the motivation comes naturally to you. However, you cannot rely on motivation alone. Achieving your goals will take a lot of hard work. At times there will be things that you will have to do as part of the process that you just absolutely hate. You will have days where your motivation will be completely deleted, especially if it is something you’ve been working towards for a long time. This is why you cannot just rely on motivation alone. You need discipline. Discipline means you put in the work and the effort even on those days when working towards your goals is the last thing you feel like doing. It is about saying no to short-term rewards, in order to get long-term benefits.
8. Focus on incremental improvement.
Rather than focusing on the end goal, try to bring your focus into the small wins. Whether daily or weekly. Every step matters and every step, however small is a step closer. So, celebrate those small steps, and allow yourself to feel proud. This could very well help to keep your motivation levels up and therefore your consistency at a high.
9. Read others success stories.
Is there someone who has achieved what you want to achieve? Read about their journey or reach out to them. There is no such thing as an overnight success. Every goal takes grit to reach. Reading other people’s experiences can help you feel inspired to keep going when doubt or tiredness starts to creep in. You’ll find that their journey was not dissimilar to yours and they also had their struggles along the way. But they fought through them and remained consistent. These stories will feel you with lots of motivation, inspiration, and empowerment to keep on track with your efforts. You might also learn something new such as a new way to move past a hurdle.
10. Get clear on how to achieve what you want.
Your ability to stay consistent will largely depend on your plan. Sitting down to make a plan will help you get realistic about how to go about achieving your goals. Do you currently hold the knowledge and skills to achieve it, or would it be useful to invest in some courses first? What challenges might you face along the way? Will it require a financial investment? If so, how much and can you afford it? If you have a brilliant idea but have no clue where to start maybe, it’ll be worthwhile to get a coach or mentor to help you along the way? These are all important things to consider, and this will largely vary depending on your goal.
If you make a plan, you will be better prepared, and being better prepared will help you avoid or get through any challenges. You’ll be less likely to feel discouraged when they arise.
11. Identify any limitations.
Sometimes it is not the outside world that is the enemy. Many times, it is you that is holding you back. The journey to achieving your dreams is also a journey of personal growth. You need to identify your insecurities and limiting thoughts and work through them. The bigger the dream, the higher the stakes, and the harder it will be. If you do not take the time to work on yourself and challenge anything internal holding you back, you will be prone to giving up at the first sight of difficulty. That will make it harder for you to stay consistent.
12. Avoid analysis paralysis.
‘Analysis Paralysis’ occurs when you start over analysing a decision or situation. The result is that it completely prevents you from making any decision and therefore, haltering forward progress. How to avoid it?
- Learn to recognise it. If you notice you have been going back and forth with a particular problem for a long time and you still have not been able to make progress then likely you have analysis paralysis.
- Explore causes of your overthinking. Knowing the why will give you the insight you need to better consider the right choice to make.
- Work on self-confidence. Overthinking sometimes has to do with lower confidence, but not always. However, if you think this might be the case for you, take some time to work on your confidence. You can read my blog post on this to get you started.
- Trust your instincts. Your most immediate response is usually the right one for you. Go with your gut. Plus if something does not feel right it probably isn’t.
- Get comfortable with some uncertainty. You will not always get everything right and you won’t ever be able to be 100% sure that the choice you are making is the right one. That’s ok. Even if you make the wrong one, you will learn a lot from the experience.
13. Pace yourself to avoid burnout.
At times you can get so invested in your goal that you put everything aside and push yourself to get to where you want to be, as quickly as possible. This can be detrimental and can backfire because if you push yourself beyond your limits continually for long stretches without having a moment’s break, you will burn out. Take things slowly. Know that slow and steady is better than initial grind followed by a period of not doing anything at all as you recover. Pacing yourself is the way to stay consistent.
14. Choose progress over perfection.
It is vital to know when to stop working on something. While you are working towards your major goal, you may feel that to avoid everything crashing down, you have to have everything figured out and perfect. This is not the case. Try not to get too carried away with making everything perfect so much that it stops you from moving forward. With every step, ask yourself if spending that extra hour on the task will be time-effective. Is it worth that time investment or would you be better off moving onto the next stage?
15. Avoid any temptations and/or distractions.
This is where having a clear goal, a clear vision, and a clear plan comes into play. You know what you want, you know why you want it, and you know what it takes to get it. However, there will be distractions left and right and many temptations along your journey. You will have to find ways to limit these distractions and at times be able to say no to things so that you can work on your goals. That’s not always easy, you might get FOMO but remember that this is not forever. Referring to your plan will help you see if and by how much letting into a temptation will set you back You will have to decide if it is worth it.
16. Forgive yourself for stalling and just come back to it.
You won’t away be perfect, and you won’t always stick to your plan. Life happens. It could be an unexpected event or other life commitments that just have to be prioritised too. That’s ok. Everyone experiences this so remember to be kind to yourself. Nothing you have done so far will ever just go to waste. when you are ready to get back into the swing of things, remember that you are not starting from zero. Just pick up where you left off and keep going. In the scale of things, these moments have little effect on when and how you reach your final goal.
17. Create a system and automate your work.
As you go along you might notice that there are many tedious and repetitive tasks that are boring, and you hate but that must be done. Doing them can get old very quickly and your motivation to carry them out can be minimal. If possible, try to put in place ways and systems to automate them. Possibly you can delegate them too. How you can automate things very much depends on what you are working towards. It could be as simple as making templates that you use over and over again or creating a spreadsheet. Minimising the time you spend on these monotonous tasks will keep your momentum up, stop you from procrastinating, and will free up time. You’ll be able to stay more consistent.
18. Set boundaries.
This could mean letting people know that you will not be available to attend an event. It could be blocking out couple of hours in a day when you will be unavailable. It could mean letting go of toxic people who do not support you. Set boundaries on anything or anyone that could halter your progress and keep you away from your goals.
19. Increase your willpower.
First of all, what exactly do we mean when we say willpower?
Will power is the ability to control one’s own actions, emotions, or urges. It is a strong determination that allows one to do something difficult.
When going gets tough and your willpower begins to deplete go back to the beginning. Visualise the result you want. Imagine what it would feel like if you achieved it. Then remind yourself of the long-term benefits that this goal will bring to your life.
20. Don’t compromise sleep.
Looking after yourself is just as important as the work you put in when it comes to consistency. Sleep is a vital factor in this. If you are working so hard on your goals that you are compromising your sleep then you will not be able to keep up your progress. Getting plenty of sleep should be your top priority to avoid lack of sleep haltering your productivity or worse leading to burnout. You need to be at your best to keep going. You won’t be able to if you are constantly feeling tired and sluggish. Most importantly, you won’t enjoy the journey.
21. Keep up a healthy lifestyle.
Do not compromise your health. Staying healthy both in your diet and exercise routine can seriously elevate your game. You will reduce your stress levels, keep up your energy levels and exercise can be an awesome way to switch off from any work and responsibilities. It is always worth the time to exercise, and it is always worth the time to cook a healthy nutritious meal.
22. Don’t forget to have fun.
Learn to take time out and never feel guilty about it. You need to reset if you are going to keep up the work long-term. Make time to see your loved ones, your friends and make time for your hobbies. Book a trip away, travel, and get out into nature. You will come back and feel more energised and more motivated to carry on working. Knowing when to take a break is crucial in remaining consistent long-term.
23. Measure your progress.
Continually measuring your progress will help you stay motivated and therefore consistent. It can be extremely rewarding to acknowledge the progress you have made. Seeing it, for example by keeping a log and writing it down can help you visualise how far you have come and how much you have achieved. The feeling of reward that comes with it, will keep you going consistently as you’ll want to strive for the next milestone. When you do not measure progress, those small wins might go unnoticed.
On A Final Note.
Consistency is the key to success! It is not easy, but the things most worthwhile never are. If you are willing to put in the work daily for as long as it takes, there is no reason you cannot get to your goal. The above tips will help you along the way.
Let me know which one resonated the most with you and which one you will be implementing first.
Natasza
xxx