We all know that consistency is key when pursuing any goal. But learning how to stay consistent despite the ebb and flow of life can be challenging.
Not only that, but it’s hard to recognize consistency when it feels like tours, auditions, weddings, holidays, and more keep cropping up.
But that’s the thing, holidays, weddings, birthdays, auditions, those are all a part of our lives.
No matter what those things will continue to happen. Learning how to stay consistent requires you to recognize that consistency doesn’t mean you are perfect every day.
Consistency is the practice of consistently making choices that move you closer to your goals when you’re able.
Now, some people take this very far.
They’d say that everything is a choice. You don’t have to have that drink on your friend’s birthday because mocktails exist.
They’d say you don’t need that second slice of pie on Thanksgiving when your family is playing games.
Or, just because it’s a holiday doesn’t mean you need to eat differently.
But this train of thought is practicing perfection NOT consistency.
If you consistently go to the same coffee shop does that mean you go daily? No.
Consistently means regularly NOT always.
Now can you do things like celebrate holidays, friendships, and more without compromising your goals? Of course.
But to say that you will always do that is just not sustainable.
Learning how to stay consistent in the pursuit of your goals requires you to learn what goal/life balance you’re willing to navigate. And, as with any balancing act, the scales will dip from side to side periodically. But as long as those scales oscillate from side to side, you’ll be just fine and making progress every day.
5 Tips for How to Stay Consistent
Front-load High-Priority Goals
Looking for how to stay consistent with your daily goals like drinking enough water, hitting 10k steps a day, or eating a certain amount of protein?
One of the most sure-fire ways to consistently hit your daily goals (or get close to them) is by “frontloading” them into your day.
What does this mean?
Let’s say I have set a goal to drink 90 oz of water per day. If I start drinking water as soon as I wake up (yes, even before my coffee) odds are I will be way more likely to hit my goal than if I wait. And if you really want to get ahead, commit to drinking a whole water bottle before noon.
Trying to reach 10k steps per day? If you take a morning walk you’ll be much closer to your goal when you finish your work day and you’ll have gotten outside in the sunshine! No more sad, treadmill walks for you!
Avoid an All-or-Nothing Mindset
All-or-nothing mindsets are the death of consistency.
If you adhere to an all-or-nothing mindset hitting the gym for 20 minutes “isn’t a real workout,” so why bother?
Choosing grilled chicken instead of fried chicken at Chic-fil-A isn’t good enough because “it’s still fast food, I might as well get what I want.”
If you want to learn how to stay consistent you have to unlearn the fallacy that falling short of your goal means that you made no progress.
This study says “Creativity, joy, inspiration, and even productivity are stunted when perfection is the only option.”
Nothing says “I’ll just give up” more than a mindset that defines imperfect progress as failure.
When I was young I wanted stronger calves. My dance teacher suggested that every night when I brush my teeth, I do calf raises. So I did.
Now, I could’ve created an entire calf-strength resistance band workout.
But which do you think I would do more often?
Bingo.
60 seconds of calf-raises every day made way more progress than a full workout whenever I had time.
And that brings me to my next point…
Create a Routine for Habit Formation
Of course, a big part of learning how to stay consistent is habit forming. After all, if something is habitual, you’re bound to do it consistently.
But how do we form habits? Here at DWL we like to encourage habit-paring.
For example, let’s say I want to drink a glass of water before I drink my morning coffee.
Every morning while my coffee brews, I’ll pour a glass of water and drink it. Then I’ll snuggle up and enjoy my coffee.
After doing this for a week or two, you won’t even think about pouring that glass of water.
You can do this with almost anything. You’re simply training your brain that “When I do ___ then I do __.”
Make a Game Plan
Obviously, you can’t start habit-forming unless you have some semblance of a plan in place.
As Coach Amber says, “failing to plan is planning to fail.”
So look at the goal or habit you’re trying to learn how to stay consistent with and plan a time during the day to take steps toward it.
Now listen, the lift of a dancer is crazy and you’re calendar probably changes week to week. That is FINE.
Simply take a look at your calendar whenever makes sense and make a plan.
Do you have time to take a walk to help hit your goal of 10k steps? Great, you will take a walk during your break from 10-11 AM.
Don’t have time? Is there any route you could walk instead of drive or take the train?
Making a plan will give you confidence in the “how” of reaching your goals. And When you are confident that you can reach your goals, you are more likely to stay consistent.
Remember, Getting Back on Track is NBD
I see this struggle a lot. Someone will be super consistent then bam, four weddings, a vacation, and two birthday parties will send them on a detour.
Some people spend time feeling frustrated that they didn’t make different choices at these various events. They spend the next few days struggling to get back on track because they are too focused on how far they “fell behind”
Well, I hate to break it to you, but there is no timeline here. Learning how to stay consistent requires you to learn patience.
People who have learned how to stay consistent know that it’s no big deal to get back on track. Mostly, because they have formed habits and made a game plan that supports this.
So sure, life will get crazy, but as soon as they can, they return to business as usual. And that my friends is how to stay consistent. Not letting yourself be derailed when life takes you on a detour.
Let’s Recap
The key to learning how to stay consistent is making a plan that works for you. Beyond that, you have to learn that being resilient when your plan doesn’t go the way you intended is paramount.
Because if you believe you failed, psychologically you are less likely to continue consistent pursuit of that goal.
So, stay away from that all-or-nothing mindset. Instead, give yourself grace, knowing that consistency is imperfect progress often achieved through baby steps.
Want more tips for reaching your goals, fitness or otherwise? Give these blogs a read: Performance vs Outcome Goals: The Role of Each In Productive Goal Setting, How to Structure a Holiday Workout Schedule You’ll Actually Stick To, Practicing Emotional Self Care: Common Mistakes High Performance Humans Make
