CONSISTENCY FOR THE WIN
If you want to achieve anything in life: It’s not about being perfect, it’s about being consistent; here’s how you do it
What the hell have dental hygiene and leaf collection got in common? 😀🍃
Both reminded me of the secret of success; something we all know but so often neglect:
“CONSISTENCY FOR THE WIN”
Yep, at a recent check up, my dentist cut through all my excuses with the line: “Look it’s simple, I can see you did a big clean especially for this visit but if you don’t brush and floss more regularly then you will need dentures sooner rather than later”😲.
Later that week I was helping my mum sweep up leaves in her garden for the first time in a long time🧑🌾.
After 2 hours of work, I was chuffed with our efforts as we had filled 2 compost bins. It was then that my mum pointed out that this equivalent activity needed doing every week if the garden was not to get overrun😵.
It’s bloody obvious…so why do we ignore this rule
I wonder how many times I need to be reminded of the rule about consistency.
If I wanted to get a 6-pack I wouldn’t expect to turn up to the gym and do one 12-hour session and then walk away with a flat stomach💪 [if only…somebody hand me that fat jab 💉].
If I want a healthy business, I don’t just do business development when I run out of work💰.
Consistency is that thing that compounds and gets us closer to our achievements little by little rather than the much more painful alternative which is to take giant leaps inconsistently📈.
It’s a bit like that time I did 186 voice notes in a row to catch up for missing 1 week of voice notes or when I did the #1000PostsChallenge instead of commenting 5 a day.
Both of those pushed me to my limits and I wouldn’t recommend them so why do we all have the habit of neglecting our consistency.
I mean, some things most of us are incredibly consistent on:
- scrolling social media 📱
- watching tv 📺
- sleeping 🛌
- eating 🍽
- using the toilet 🚽
What is it about some other tasks? Is it because they take effort, seem optional or are just downright boring?
Having just set my 2025 H1 Goals this a topic that is currently weighing heavily on my mind — fortunately one week in I’m doing ok on the goals so far 🙂.
How to build consistency?
It’s not like I haven’t leaned into this problem before.
In fact I regularly help clients with these specific challenges and have written extensively about why there are four different aspects when it comes to motivation.
Personally, I often use a “don’t break the chain” and gamification technique to build up my consistency in things so I’m fascinated why I fail to do this in other areas.
It can’t be that I forget.
It is much more likely that sub-consciously I don’t actually see them as a priority so don’t even deem them worthy of one of my techniques.
If that’s the case for you, then I recommend revisiting your goals to see if they really are a priority and reminding yourself why you are doing them — there is nothing worse than doing something that your brain has already written off in importance.
Similarly we all exhibit some form of Reactance if we have been told to do something.
So, in the case of brushing my teeth more regularly, I would be more likely to do it if the idea came from me rather than from my dentist.
That’s why it is always a good thing to reframe any goal as your choice [it’s amazing how easy it is to fool your brain into thinking it was your idea in the first place].
But if you’ve done the check on importance and buy-in to your goals then it is time to deploy other strategies. Here are 12 Top Consistency Strategies I recommend:
- Break goals down into smaller chunks — a bit like the old joke about how you eat an elephant; really the smaller the better (apparently it only takes 20 hours to learn any micro-skill) 🧩️
- Eliminate debate entirely — make things absolutely non-negotiable so they just have to be done or minimise active thinking about it as much as possible 🙅♀️
- Make different aspects visible — use visual cues (e.g. motivational quotes on the fridge for visible inspiration or leaving your trainers out for visible reminder of consistency or a visual tracker of your progress for visible feedback or a picture of your final goal to visualise the future) 👀
- Generate momentum — pick up easier habits first 🚀
- Gamify — turn everything into a game, try to beat your previous score or time 🎮
- Accountability — tell others about it (particularly someone you admire, or fear) 🪞
- Use a bribe or a penalty — carrot or stick will keep you right 😇👿
- Buddy up — if others are doing it too, it’s much easier 🫂
- Develop a routine — do things at the same time or in the same order 📋
- Do things early in the day — we all generally operate better earlier and there are less excuses at the start of the day 🌅
- Limit distractions and excuses — make a list of everything that could potentially stand in your way, remove them as best you can and play bingo with them every time your brain goes there 🤐
- Just keep smiling — we can fool our brain into enjoying anything with a smile 😊
Will all of this guarantee success?
Nope!
And that’s the honest answer.
There are so many malevolent things out there to distract and diminish you (I mean at any one time your brain is subject to at least one of 180 different biases) but adopting these strategies will certainly make it much more likely that you will achieve your goals.
Remember consistency is a key component of FQ and that’s why I am perpetually fascinated by it.
As I go through 2025 I will most definitely striving for greater consistency in more aspects of my life…and I am certain that they will help me achieve so much more …or at least learn so much.
Follow me to see how I get on and for support to get yourself more effective 🙌
Faris
Faris is the CEO and Founder of Shiageto Consulting, an innovative consultancy that helps firms and individuals sharpen their effectiveness. Connect with him here
Success = IQ x EQ x FQ
