Every New Year, millions of people set out to make lofty goals to self-improve. “This year I am going to lose weight, I am going to start my own business, I am going to read more, I am going to get organized,” and the list goes on. And every year, around this time, all those resolutions become a distant memory. People have good intentions, but if there is no action associated with the intent, there will never be any result.
There are several reasons New Year resolutions have such a predictable failure rate. However, the ones that stand out the most are 1) Unrealistic Expectations (i.e., setting a goal too high to reach), 2) Lack of Accountability, and 3) Not Being Consistent.
Editorial credit: John C. Maxwell / MaxwellLeadership
Now, you can lower your expectations or take an incremental approach to your goals. And you can have someone hold you accountable, or at least try to. But if you don’t have consistency, the other factors do not matter.
If there is one thing I have learned, a hard lesson at times, and as a business leader, it is that consistency is a critical part of personal growth and leadership.
John C. Maxwell states, “Motivation gets you going, but discipline keeps you growing. That’s the Law of Consistency. It doesn’t matter how talented you are. It doesn’t matter how many opportunities you receive. If you want to grow, consistency is key.”
Consistency as an Individual
John C. Maxwell states, “Motivation gets you going, but discipline keeps you growing. That’s the Law of Consistency. It doesn’t matter how talented you are. It doesn’t matter how many opportunities you receive. If you want to grow, consistency is key.”
Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson says, “I’ve learned over the years that when it comes to success, consistency is key. Consistent hard work that we may not like doing today for a payoff we’ll love tomorrow. Earn it. Enjoy it.” Typically, when we think of success, we think of people like Dwayne Johnson, who pursued a successful acting wrestling and acting career and obtained an incredible amount of wealth in the process.
However, success comes in all sizes. You can be successful in starting a business, losing weight, raising a family, and running a marathon; whatever your definition of success is, the goal or goals you intend to achieve and then achieve are how you define your level of success.
Editorial credit: Fred Duval / Shutterstock.com
But the level of success The Rock has obtained took time to happen. It was a long journey of many little victories and some failures that got him to the “A-list” status in Hollywood. And no person has reached a similar level of achievement and has not had as many failures as they have had successes. When reflected and used correctly, failures are the teaching and building blocks to success. Without failure, we don’t learn. And we need learning to grow. And with growth, we can reach our goals. But the glue that propels a person through that process is consistency.
Fail to Succeed
It is not a matter of how many times you get knocked down. It is a matter of how often you get back up and keep going. A reporter asked Thomas Edison why he failed so many times in making the light bulb. He replied, “I have not failed. I just found 1000 ways it won’t work.” How we process and accept failure is as critical as the success that can follow. If we learn from failure, even if that failure is due to our lack of skills, personal flaws, bad habits, etc., and then reflect and take action to address those gaps and learn how to improve, we can overcome those obstacles before us. But that has to be a consistent part of our growth process.
Edison’s attitude was essential to remaining consistent in inventing the light bulb. He did not look upon any of his failures in the process as limiting. He looked at them as learning experiences.
Edison stated, “When you think you have exhausted all possibilities, you haven’t.” Your attitude is vital in maintaining the right mindset to remain consistent in your pursuits.
Turn Consistency into a Habit
If you want to stay consistent in anything, make it a habit to be consistent. Brendon Burchard’s “High-Performance Habits” book details the six practices successful people have in common. |
The common thread across all six habits is consistency. Because when you are consistent, these traits become second nature. It is instinctive for you to keep up with them and to do them regularly. To make a lasting change, you must make it a habit. For anything to become a habit, you must do it consistently for at least 30 days. After that, it becomes easier and more accessible, making it “routine.”
Steps to Success
Saying that you need to be disciplined in your goals, stay consistent, and take action is easy to say. We are often paralyzed to get started and keep going.
Too many never turn their intentions into actions, even if they have some level of motivation to do so. This lack of turning thoughts into energy and action is due to viewing the tasks as overwhelming, letting too many distractions take you off course, and, let’s be honest, laziness. But here are a few tips to overcome some of these obstacles:
4 - Step Plan
1) Write down your goals and objectives – Things often become more real when we see them. So writing them down is an excellent visual start. Also, make your goals tangible by using the SMART mention. When writing down your plan, make sure it is:
- S – Specific – Don’t write, “I want to lose weight” write, “I want to lose 20 lbs.”
- M – Measurable – What indicator(s) proves you reached your goal? “I can check my weight weekly to see my progress.”
- A – Attainable – Is the goal realistic? “Losing 20 lbs. over three months is realistic given my schedule, diet, and exercise routine.”
- R – Relevant – Does the goal align with your values and long-term objectives? “It is important to me to lose weight and get in shape to stay healthy for myself and my family.”
- T – Time-Based – Set a realistic, ambitious end date for your goal. “I will target to lose 10 lbs. per month over the next three months.”
2) Make it known – Telling others about your goal helps to hold you accountable for achieving that goal. Knowing that you told someone of your plan triggers a motivation to keep going because no one wants to have told people they are going to do something and then didn’t do anything when asked about it later.
Also, post your goals where you can see them daily to motivate you to keep going as a reminder of what you have committed to yourself.
3) Make it Small – Dwayne Johnson did not become a superstar overnight. It was a series of little steps. Take lofty goals and break them down into smaller steps to eventually reach your ultimate goal. For example, if you want to lose 50 lbs during the year, start by saying, “I am going to lose 10 lbs in a month.” once you reach that goal, then set another plan to lose another 10 lbs, and so on until your ultimate goal is met. This approach not only shows incremental improvement but also helps in remaining motivated and consistent in your pursuit.
4) Make it Actionable (Start Small) – Consistent, incremental improvement is critical. If you set out to lose that 10 lbs in a month, make small changes to your diet by removing or introducing slight differences in what you eat. If you plan to exercise more, don’t attempt to go to the Gym every day. Make a promise to go at least twice a week to start. I have maintained that for a few weeks, added days, and so on. Remember, consistency is far more critical than how much you do at once.
If you employ these simple techniques, you will see a dramatic change in how you approach and reach your goals.
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