Been a while since the last issue of this newsletter. So much has happened both good and bad, in and out of my control. But happy to get back on track - what better topic to kick off after this long break than….. CONSISTENCY.
To find success at something over time, there has to be some form of showing up regularly to do a set of particular activities.
For getting healthier that may mean eating healthy and hitting the gym or jogging 5 times a week. Easy right?
Most of us know the answer is a big WRONG.
Unfortunatly as humans doing something uncomfortable goes against our basic instinct of wanting things to come easy. We easily loose energy because we either loss motivation, become distracted, let emotions kickin basically, life happens. Both things in or out of our control.
If this is you, you are clearly not alone. Here’s what I am doing to ensure I remain consistent going forward on this newsletter and some other goals I have set for myself.
Lets jump right in.
1. Discipline over Motivation
Lets start with this bitter pill. As I have stated before, just motivation is not sustainable as a long term strategy. Motivation is too volatile.
We need to build discipline. Showing up even when we feel like it or not. Showing up whether its cold or hot, clear sky or rainy outside.
You see, its not just for the sake of discipline that we show up but for what discipline will create - MOMENTUM.
Every so often I come accross a Strong Man Contests. One of the various competitions they do is pulling huge trucks.
The most difficult part is to get the truck from being dead still to some motion in the wheels. Once thats done on flat land, the truck will build some momentum and the pull will become relatively easier.
2. Think Long Term
We unfortunately live in a Microwave society were we want everything fast and now. Unfortunatly creating anything of substance isn’t always quick and easy. It's a gradual ascent that takes both time and effort.
Timber tree growers amaze me the most when it comes to this. Did you know 60% of growth of Eucalyptus tree is established in 10 years.
10 years!!
10 years of watering, prunning, fertilizing protecting against diseases before the tree in mature enough to be sold. I won’t even talk about Pine trees - all I can say is that we have a lot to learn from these tree growers.
So instead of waiting to see results after a week or month think about how the results will look like spread over a minimum of 3 months, 6 months, a year, 2 years 5 years and so on. Thinking long term has a way of easing of the pressure of doing something for the moment.
Now that we know it will take some time and we are going for goals for the long haul the next step is to…
3. Gamifying the Process
Truth be told, its hard. Exercising is hard, eating healthy is hard, studying is hard the list can go on.
Celebrate the discipline, momentum and progress you make daily. Celebrate the small wins be creative.
Burnout and fatigue are real don’t sell yourself to your drive to achieve goals and “success.”
4. Bitting More than You can Chew
There was a day I came back from church and was so hungry couldn’t wait to eat something. So I stopped over at a burger place. The waitress came to take my order, I knew exactly what I wanted. I ordered the biggest baddest juiciest burger they had.
I asked how long it would take, and she reluctantly gave the usual 10 to 15 minutes.
I don’t know why I was that hungry that day but those were the longests 15minutes of my life. Seriously felt like an hour or two.
When she finally brought the burger I could’t wait to dig in. Even switched my phone off (proper hunger makes you do crazy things) to prepare to eat the masterpiece spread before me.
I opened up my mouth wide to ensure I get good bite that had all the ingredients and toppings of the burger. As I opened my mouth even wider, boom my jaws locked. It was so painful I throw that evil burger back on its plate. It was so embarrasing I thought the whole resturant was looking at me.
I had to give myself a minute for my jaws to get back to normal. Eventually, they did and I peacefully no humbly broke down my burger into smaller more managable chunks. That burger taught me a lesson I’ll never forget.
Its about the same concept with chasing goals. If you want to chase too many goals you will end up achieving non of them.
For me at most I’ll concentrate on 1 to 3 things for maximum impact. If you want to pursue more, you can branch out once those 1 to 3 begin to have traction.
Now that we know a few tips to keep us consistent its time for action. As they say what’s easy to do it also NOT easy to do. Find an accountability partner or surround yourself with people going the same direction as you. They will help keep you on track towards being consistent.
As mentioned before whether you put in the work or not, time will pass regardless. Once it does pass, having been inconsistent will often leave you depressed and more often than not having made negative progress.
After putting in the time and being consistent you will not be the same person after 12 weeks, a year and so on. You will have developed more skills, become stronger mentally and have something to count for that you started and achieved.
Lets all be the latter.
Amazing article Joseph! Relatable and easy to follow. Thank you