Hopefully, you’ve been starting to use the “perspective shift” and “emotion creates motion” tips to make important changes in your life. Today’s tip will help you see this change through long-term consistency. Also, will help you realize why consistency is the key to success in every aspect of life.
This tip involves grit, persistence, and perseverance, but not in the way you may traditionally think.
The images that come to mind for “grit” and “perseverance” usually involve epic struggles to overcome astonishing obstacles.
While this is sometimes true, more commonly, grit and perseverance simply mean continuing on your path despite the natural obstacles and speed bumps along the way.
Yes, it’s a bit harder work than quitting, but here’s the interesting part. Overcoming the struggle generally doesn’t require an insane increase in effort, just a little more than most other people are willing to do.
Here’s where the tip “consistency is the key” gets interesting, and if you are ready to absorb this lesson, it will change your life in so many positive ways.
It’s extremely common for people to give up right before they would have seen results.
Read that again. Let it sink in. It’s profound in its simplicity and implications for your future performance in health, work, and life.
I’ve experienced this situation from both sides many times in the past and it’s a lesson I remind myself of constantly.
Whether climbing a hill on a mountain bike, completing a work project, or putting in extra effort to build a friendship/relationship, even a 5-10% increase in effort can be all it takes to produce the results you desire, and to separate yourself from those who don’t know this tip and already gave up.
Here’s a perfect example of why consistency is the key that you are very familiar with.
If you want to boil water, but didn’t know that it boiled at 100 degrees celsius, you may be tempted to give up before it’s boiled.
Think about it. 85-90% of the energy is expended with no visible results. Sure, the water may be warmer, but it’s not showing any signs of boiling.
Even after more than many minutes of energy expenditure, you’ve brought the temperature up to 99.5 degrees Celsius (approximately 211 degrees Fahrenheit) without being able to boil the water.
You could be tempted to give up and wrongfully think you hadn’t made any progress, yet you were over 99% of the way to your goal.
You would have done 99.5% of the work without reaching your goal. At 99.5, it’s still just hot water, but not boiling. Simply putting in the small little extra effort necessary to raise the temperature an extra 0.5 degrees would accomplish your goal.
This happens constantly with goals in fitness, business, and life.
Clearly seeing your vision, and going just a bit further would allow us to accomplish exponentially more in life.
The previous “mindset shift” and “emotion creates motion” tips will help you manage expectations and focus during these critical times.
Shift your mindset by DECIDING definitively that you want to complete this objective. That you want to embrace consistency as a key to success. Understand WHY it’s important to you, and tap into the strong emotions behind your objective and purpose. Doing these will make the successful completion of the goal more likely…and meaningful.
It just so happens that this is one of the biggest benefits of coaching and accountability programs. They help you:
- Stay on the right path
- Focus on the correct ACTIONS
- See things from a new perspective (learning, insight, feedback)
- Spark your inspiration and motivation
Coaching, accountability, and support systems are staples in the “daily diet” of every high-performing person and team. Whether or not you work with me (I’m happy to help when you are ready), I encourage you to think hard about:
- The goals you have in your health, personal performance, and life
- Why these goals are important to you
- The barriers that have held you back from achieving your goals
- What you are willing to do to make them happen
That’s it. The secrets to lasting positive change are at your fingertips. Now, it’s up to you to use them.
The best way to learn and change is to implement tips immediately, then continue learning and adjusting.
Here’s a simple task for you:
- Think about what you want to accomplish. (Write it down)
- What has held you back from accomplishing it? (Write these things down)
- Determine WHY it’s important to you. (Write it down)
- Are the reason and emotion strong enough? If not, revise the goal or find a more important one.
- Commit to yourself that you will do what it takes to see it through…knowing that most people give up right before they reap the rewards).
- Write down your commitment…on paper
- Write down the first (and smallest) step you can take towards this goal by tomorrow. Put this in your calendar and set a reminder to make it happen.
Now you may be tempted to read this, think it’s interesting, and then go back to your work/regular life.
Take 15 seconds right now. Get out your phone (you save a few seconds if you are already reading this on your phone) and set a reminder for this evening to write down the answers to the question.
It should only take about 10 minutes. The key to success is to DO IT. No excuses. Just forward progress.
If you think that you would benefit from help working through this exercise, just reach out and book a complimentary success session below:
Here is to “winning today”, and to your future success!
