The Unexpected Benefits of Consistency.

I’ve long known that consistency is a core tenet of any successful endeavour, whether that endeavour is professional or personal. Yet, despite that, it just seemed so darn boring. Other aspects of success, like connection and dedication and confidence and creativity, seemed so much more exciting. If they were sexy, consistency seemed to me to be in oversized mismatched flannels and a mouthguard.

I clearly did not yet understand what the true benefits of consistent action were.

Changing how we view consistency.

Changing how I view consistency has allowed me to embrace its power in my life, both when I was a corporate professional and now, as an entrepreneur.

Whereas I used to view consistency as a necessary evil, drudgery, the ugly duckling of honourable characteristics, I now see it as the foundation for all the other attributes that lead to success. Truly.

Consider this:

• You cannot truly connect with others without being consistent in your outreach tactics or your personality.

• You also cannot be creative without consistency. We tend to view creative genius as the result of spontaneous inspiration and flashes of insight. However, as anyone who does creative work will tell you, it’s showing up consistently to the canvas, pottery wheel, or page that will lead to true breakthroughs and masterpieces.

• You cannot have confidence without consistency. (I’ll explain this one a bit more in this article.)

• You cannot be dedicated without consistency. They are practically one and the same.

In this blog post, I debunk three myths about consistency (that I once held myself) and offer three reframes to those myths so that you can embrace consistency as the powerful driver of success that it is.

Myth #1: Consistent action requires that you be confident first.

This is a trap we have all fallen into: we put off new tasks or activities that intimidate or scare us in favour of first getting comfortable with that task. We like to say things to ourselves like, “Oh, I’ll follow up with that prospect when I feel more confident in following up.”

However, that’s not how it works. The only way to build confidence in doing anything is to dive in and do that thing, even when you feel like you have no idea what you are doing or are rubbish at it.

There’s no way around this. Confidence comes through consistent action.

Myth #2: Consistent action comes naturally.

We often resist consistency. Our brains are wired to love new things, which are more exciting and give us a hit of dopamine (one of the feel-good hormones).

Our brains are also wired to focus on what we’re giving up versus what we are gaining. Notwithstanding the tremendous medium- and long-term benefits of consistency, we are more focused on what that consistent action is keeping us from doing.

Take going to the gym as an example. You might know from past experience that, when you exercise, you feel better mentally, you have more energy, and you have fewer aches and pains. You know it’s worth it. But, when your alarm goes off an hour earlier than usual for you to go to the gym, your brain will forget all of that. It will be hyper-focused on what it’s giving up: sleep.

Consistent action does not come naturally to most of us.

Don’t wait for consistency to just happen. We have to make it happen. We have to choose consistency.

Myth #3: Consistency is merely a productivity tool.

When we think of consistency, we often think of getting more done or getting stronger results. It’s treated like a productivity hack. It is that; of course, it boosts efficiency and effectiveness. However, consistency also plays a role in our personal lives.

• You can’t learn to play guitar without a consistent practice schedule.

• You can’t train your dog to not bark at the TV without consistent training rituals.

• You also can’t manage your well-being without consistent attention to it.

Consistency can help us manage our stress levels and get back to a level of stress that feels good so we can then focus on achieving our goals, at work and in our personal lives.

I’m a big proponent of micro-breaks as a means of managing the stress that is so prevalent in corporate workplaces. We often believe that, if we can just make it to the weekend or our vacation or the end of the month, then we can feel better. While time away from work is an incredibly important part of any stress management strategy, we do not do ourselves any favours when we wait for such infrequent interventions to feel better. To effectively manage our stress, we need to do something about it much more frequently than that.

When I talk about micro-breaks, I am referring to tiny activities or movements we do throughout the day that make us feel better. We all already do a certain number of these things without really realizing it. Consider enjoying that first sip of a fresh cup of coffee, feeling the sun on your face for a moment when you step outside, listening to some upbeat music while you work, snuggling a pet for a minute while you’re working from home, etc.

We all know these things feel nice but we don’t tend to associate them with stress management. If anything, they can seem frivolous or like an indulgence. Yet, they are indeed critical to helping us manage our stress. These types of activities stimulate feel-good hormones (endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, or oxytocin). When we stimulate these hormones, they tell our brain and body that it’s safe to relax. This in turn returns our stress levels to a more manageable level.

Consistently managing your well-being looks like incorporating several of these types of micro-breaks into your day. You can do them when you notice you are feeling stressed out but, perhaps more importantly, you can do them proactively, too.

Tap into the benefits of consistency to help you achieve your goals.

The next time you find yourself rolling your eyes at consistency, remember these reframes:

• Use consistency as a means of building confidence rather than waiting to be confident first.

• Make a commitment to choose consistency rather than hoping it will just happen.

• Use consistency not only as a productivity tool but also as a means of managing your well-being.

If you’ve been resisting consistency, it’s okay… but I am gently encouraging you to give it another look. Shifting how I viewed and added consistent action to my life has changed how I work and how I feel.

My hope is that it gives you the same sense of grounding and momentum in your own life.

Bring the power of consistency to your team.

If you want to help your team embrace the benefits of consistency and incorporate more consistent action in their day-to-day work, I can help. I deliver keynotes and workshops that help people strengthen the professional and people skills that allow them to thrive at work. One of these talks is called The Consistency Code. It delves into the themes covered in this blog post and offers several specific tactics for building consistency into everyday work.

Learn more about my Corporate Training programs or explore my Speaking topics. I also work with organizations to customize sessions that meet their specific goals.

All posts on my website are written by me, not by A.I.