Consistency

Definition 1: Regularity and harmony of conduct or practice.

Definition 2: Agreement or harmony of parts or features to one another or a whole.

Definition 3: The texture or make up of something.

Consistent practice brings together all three of the above definitions. If you engage in regular practice the constituent parts of your eco-system will develop in harmony; your mind, body, internal chemistry, your language (jargon), your friends etc. And finally, you will become that which you practice consistently.

I have noticed that many successful people claim that consistency is a key component of their success. You could say that consistency is a consistent theme amongst the successful. One of the things I like about consistency is that it doesn’t require any particular talent or skill. Well, except that is, the skill of being consistent. As Conor McGregor put it, “There’s no talent here, this is hard work.”

So why is consistency important?

I believe that it’s actually easier to be consistent than inconsistent; that is, it takes less physical, mental, and emotional effort. When you are constantly trying to start something up again it requires a lot of effort. As an analogy, it is far easier to swim every stroke of front crawl than to miss the occasional stroke.

There is a psychological toll to being inconsistent, we mentally beat ourselves up. We feel like a bit of a flake. We are at the whim of our moods, and our moods are at the whim of the moon and the stars. Conversely, being consistent makes us feel in control of our destiny and from that confidence and self-belief develop.

When you are consistent in your efforts you are more likely to engage in more hours of practice. You are also likely to adapt better to the practice.

When we are inconsistent, we often over-estimate how many hours of effort we have put in. This is because a) we are more conscious of the days that we do the work because it never reaches the stage of habit. In our minds the days that we practice feel like a big deal and b) we fail to accurately judge the time we are not practicing because after missing one or two sessions we forget to keep track. I see this in my activity spreadsheet where I stop logging my efforts after a few slack days. I believe the same happens mentally. It doesn’t feel great to put an X or a red mark against those days when we haven’t turned up, so our mind helps us out by no longer keeping score.

When you are consistent you are more likely to become the person you want to be. For instance, if you attend the gym consistently your demeanour, behaviour and internal chemistry will reflect that of a gym-goer. You will start to see yourself in that vein, as will others. Some people say that you should use visualisation to see yourself the way you want to be, but I think it is more convincing if you consistently act the way you want to be and let your visualisation (be that daydreams, night dreams, internal dialogue etc.) follow. That way your thoughts and your actions will be in harmony.

You reduce the opportunity to undertake activities that are detrimental to you. Very often inconsistency opens the door for practices that hinder your progress, and this in turn can develop into a negative loop where you become more inconsistent. The more consistent you are with good practice the less you entertain the idea of bad practice.

You quiet the internal voice that tells you not to practice. Whenever I start a new practice, be that gym, or meditation or language learning, I will have a couple of weeks where my motivation is high and then suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, it will fall off a cliff. My inner voice will then begin a monologue that is designed to convince me not to practice today and will eventually lead me to quit the activity.

My internal voice:

‘You’ve been really good recently, take a day off.’

‘You deserve a break after all your efforts.’

‘Oh, so you think you’re better than everyone else, do you?’

‘You really should be getting on with work rather than heading off to the gym.’

‘It’s raining outside.’

‘It’s going to be painful.’

‘Never mind, you gave it a go.’

‘Everyone will be watching you.’

Possibly my favourite benefit to be gained from consistency is that the dissenting voice in my mind simply goes away. It quietens down to the faintest whisper. It’s as though it admits defeat in the face of m consistency, realising that nothing it can say will stop me from turning up.

How to be consistent

Consistency is a ‘muscle’ that can be developed over time. Some things that have helped me develop this muscle are:

Realising the value of consistency. It’s almost impossible to develop any meaningful skill without it.

The opposite of the previous point is, accepting the futility of inconsistency. If I am going to put in any effort at all then I want results, so I may as well act in such a way as to get results.

Intend to be consistent. For me consistency means daily practice. I’ve always known that I’m a momentum person. But it took me a long time to realise the best way to gain and maintain momentum is to practice on a daily basis. In my experience when I intend to do something say three times a week, I lose a little bit of desire and momentum on the off days, and the negative voice in my head starts to pipe up. Also, if you intend to practice every day you don’t get into the situation of trying to reschedule your sessions.  Oh, I feel a bit tired today, I’ll go on Friday instead. This rescheduling very rarely works out well for me.

Accept that sometimes you will venture off the consistency path, but don’t wander off for too long. Many people start a positive practice as a New Year’s resolution and then stop within a couple of weeks, only to start again with the next New Year. This is clearly spending too much time off the path. Keep yourself in the game by only wandering off for short periods of time.

Journal. Through journaling you can gain knowledge of your patterns, your thought processes, and your feelings. You can then anticipate and work around any potential issues.

Be consistent. It sounds a bit stupid but the way to be consistent is to be consistent. The more you practice consistency the better you will get and the easier it becomes. It reminds me of Wim Hof’s advice on how to take cold showers, ‘Just take the damn cold shower.’

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