You may have heard it many times and you might be wondering what it means when they say consistency is key. When we say consistency, it is a way of emphasizing the importance of staying consistent in achieving one’s goals. Consistency is an important ingredient for success and it is a must-have for everybody who desires to achieve success in whichever endeavor they are into.
What is Consistency?
Consistency has many definitions but in this context, consistency means one’s ability to behave or act in the same way or perform a task repeatedly and regularly without tiring out. Consistency is an attribute of resilience, determination, and focus, and it is key to achieving success in every known human endeavor.
Why is Consistency Key to Achieving Success?
Consistency is key to achieving success in every human activity that you may think of, be it a career, sports, academics, weight control, skill development, name it. Consistency is the number secret of high performers in every industry.
Consistency is key to achieving success for several reasons, and these reasons are all based on the fact that our productivity is often pulsatile and naturally intermittent. There are times we are at our peak performance, and other times we are struggling to produce results.
Consistency is the ability to continue even at such times when you are not at your best, and it is key to achieving mastery in all you do. Here are some reasons why consistency remains key to achieving success.
1. Consistency enhances mastery/perfection
Tiny drops of water make a mighty ocean. That is what consistency does to mastery. When you are consistent, you make cumulative progress toward your desired goals. Gaining mastery or achieving one’s goals perfectly is the most important definition of success, thus, re-emphasizing that consistency is key.
2. Consistency keeps you going
Again, there are high times and there are low times. High productivity times are those periods when you feel active and productive. On the other hand, during low-productivity periods, you don’t feel so motivated to carry out your required task. Consistency, however, is what keeps you going at all times, and it is key to achieving success in that endeavor.
3. Consistency maintains your efforts
You may have noticed that when you stop doing a task for a few days, you lose a lot of the progress you’ve already made. Sometimes, it’s even worse because when you return, you may have to start from square one again. Nature hates disjointedness and discontinuity. Consistency is the antidote to discontinuity, it maintains your efforts over time, thus, it is key to achieving your desired goal within the shortest possible time.
4. Consistency sets you apart
Most people are inconsistent, and that is why only a few people achieve success eventually. People give up at the slightest sign of difficulty but through consistency, you can continue to put in your best even when it doesn’t feel like it. This would eventually set you apart from the flock, and increase your likelihood of being successful.
5. Consistency is a natural law of excellence
Consistency is a natural law of excellence because it is founded on the principle of constant repetition. Repetition is the mother of mastery because it trains the human brain to become more efficient at specific tasks. Efficiency means less time and less effort at achieving similar or even bigger results, which is the hallmark of excellence.
Examples of areas where consistency is key
Consistency is needed in almost every aspect of life, but here are some important examples of areas where consistency is key.
- Career development.
- Personal development.
- Weight loss journey.
- Skill mastery.
- Academic prowess.
- Political excellence, etc.
For example, staying consistent at the gym will make your weight loss efforts pay off in a shorter time. Being consistent with your work will advance you professionally and personally. Being consistent in your character will make people have more trust in you and this could enhance your political career if you are passionate about leadership.
Ways to build your consistency mindset and stay more consistent
Consistency is a mindset, not just an action. You don’t just decide to be consistent, you first wire the mindset into yourself and thereafter, you find yourself being consistent. Here are some ways to build in yourself the mindset of consistency to realize that consistency is key even when you don’t feel like it.
1. Create a daily routine
The best way to develop consistency is by incorporating your desired action into your daily routine so that it becomes a daily habit. If it is a once-a-week event, or depending on the frequency, ensure that you mentally include it in your routine. One great way to do so for a start is to add it to your calendar or list of reminders.
2. Assume the position of the best
Staying consistent is easier when you have a clear target to pursue. Most consistent individuals are those who place themselves in a leading position in their craft. To stay consistent and be motivated at it, you need to tell yourself that you are the best, and for you to be the best, you need to go the extra mile. Thus, you know you don’t have a choice but to stay consistent.
3. Tell yourself you can do it
Whenever you feel like your ass is too lazy to go to work, assure yourself that you can do it. As you consistently tell yourself that you can do it, your brain begins to rewire itself to be consistent.
4. Delayed gratification
Delayed gratification is another basic principle of success. It is one’s ability and willingness to sacrifice pleasure today to get more of it tomorrow. To be consistent, you need to accept that it will not always be comfortable but will be worth it.
5. Equate it to a basic necessity
One of the best ways to develop the mindset of consistency is to equate any desired task to a basic necessity of life. There is hardly any day people consciously live without food or water. Taking your bath and wearing clothes is also non-negotiable. The earlier you begin to equate the specific task where you want to gain consistency to a basic necessity you can’t live without, the faster you would become consistent at it.
Everyone defaults sometimes
If you just failed yourself in your consistency routine yesterday, it is not enough to beat yourself over. Everyone defaults to their own routines sometimes, even the most successful do. What is important is for you to pick up from your mistake, strategize better ways to overcome your desire to default, and do better next time.
Don’t give up on yourself or your routine when you temporarily lose your consistency. There is no one that has never been inconsistent before, even the most successful people you hear of today. Breaking your consistency might set you behind where you are supposed to be but it is always better to pick up again than give up totally. What is best is staying determined to stay up to your cycle of consistency.
Other Frequently Asked Questions About Consistency is Key
Is consistency key or the key?
Consistency is key, not the key. Saying consistency is the key attribute that consistency is the only key to achieving success but it is not. Other qualities like patience, determination, and focus assist you to be consistent, while others like hard work, risk-taking, etc, are key to achieving success in their own respects. However, consistency is the key that helps you establish desired behaviors and allow you to build momentum and efficiency over time.
Who said consistency is key?
John C. Maxwell once said, “Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.” This is the best-known reference to how consistency is key to achieving greatness and excellence.
What is the power of consistency?
If you want to know how powerful consistency is, remember that drops of water have the power to cut a rock if it falls consistently on it. Ants consistently move to find food and they end up gathering loads of food for winter. Nature demonstrates the power of consistency in plausible ways. We can’t help but agree that consistency is key to achieving success in everything we do.
What are the three pillars of consistency?
Consistency in business (digital or non-digital) has been described in terms of three pillars including accountability, relevancy, and clarity. It was described that these three pillars are three areas you must deliberately stay consistent in to help you secure a sound business portfolio.
What are the elements of consistency?
We cannot say consistency is key without talking about the things that make up consistency. In other words, the elements of consistency seek to understand how one can be able to keep up with consistency. These elements include but are not limited to the following: discipline, decisiveness, setting SMART goals, goal and result-oriented, habitual, etcetera.
Final words
Consistency is key to achieving success, performance, or set goals in every area of life. Being able to harness consistency will put you way ahead of your peers in a short time. This post has shown you what it means when we say consistency is key, as well as some effective ways to harness the potential of consistency.
