Consistency.
It's one of the things I struggle with. I can start something with so much enthusiasm but drop it after a few days. Something like writing a book took me two years to actually finish but even with that, I have more than 3 unfinished works that are just taking up space on my laptop.
Consistency takes effort, planning and a whole lot of discipline.
One of my personal goals this year is to be more self-disciplined, because it takes a lot of self discipline to even be consistent. You can plan everything and put measures in place to achieve something, but if you aren't disciplined, you'll find it hard to keep to your plans.
What I learned from the book example was that, if I'm really serious about something, and I want to achieve it, I can. It wasn't easy. I had several writer's blocks along the way, but once I put my mind to it, I was able to push through and write my first masterpiece.
Today's post gives some practical and hopefully helpful tips to take in order to be consistent. So whether it's trying to sleep for a specific amount of time every day or it's working towards a new business idea, taking these steps should help promote a steady and disciplined lifestyle.
1. Make plans and put measures in place
This is the first step to ensuring consistency in your life. I believe that documenting things help make your plans real, so write down the actions you plan to take in order to achieve that goal. Will you have to turn off all your gadgets an hour before going to bed to help you sleep early? Will you have to save a specific amount of money to buy equipment for your new business? Write all these steps you'll need to take down.
2. Set realistic goals
Let's be honest, some of the things we set out to do are just not possible at this particular time. And even if they are, you may be setting time goals for your aspirations that you yourself know you won't be able to do.
Set realistic goals and time frames for those goals. Time is a resource which when used right will help you achieve your desired results.
3. Take one goal at a time
Doing too many things at once can make it difficult to be consistent in one. If you're trying to start so many business ideas at once, you'll find that your attention is divided and you can't stay up to the many tasks that each of these goals require. So take one goal at a time and work on it. Once you're grounded and settled with one, you can then move on to the next. But don't overwhelm yourself with too much at a time.
4. Start!
We may make so many plans and try to perfect everything before we decide to actually start working on our goal. I'll use myself as an example. I had the idea to start my blog in January of 2019. But it wasn't until September before I finally launched it. Why? Because I was so wrapped up in designing my website and planning that I kept pushing off the launch.
The lesson here is that, don't be so wrapped up in planning that you become too afraid to start. Once you begin, you'll be able to start working towards your goal. And once you do, do your best to keep the measures you put in place and the plans you made in order to succeed.
5. Don't give up just because you failed to be consistent
We can get discouraged when we find that we're failing to be consistent with a task we've set for ourselves. And then when we see that we're lacking, we tend to give up.
Don't give up!
Pick things up again and continue.
Just because you failed to be consistent, doesn't mean you've failed at your task. Try again until you get results. Even if you fail at it 99 times, the hundredth time could be the point where you actually succeed. As I said, it takes a lot of self discipline to be consistent but once you keep working at it, you'll start to get the hang of things.
6. Focus on your progress not the day-to-day results
It might take some time for you to see proper results. It's tempting to want to examine your progress every day but when you over-analyse daily results, you might get discouraged when at first you don't see much change. But your focus needs to be on how you'll progress in the long run, not on short term results.
7. Accountability partner
Consistency isn't easy. Which is why we need other people to help keep us accountable. John Donne's quote, 'No man is an island' is perfect for this point. In order to thrive, we need others helping us out too. So find someone you know can help keep you accountable and make sure you're consistent with your actions.
I hope these steps help and that you keep to them. Do you have any other tips for staying consistent? Let me know in the comments below or email/message me on social media. Would love to hear your thoughts. EuniqueBlogs also has a new Instagram account so do go check it out and give us a follow. Have an amazing day everyone and a Happy New month to you all!
Stay blessed and stay a blessing.
