Consistency is key to success

 

Consistency is key to success – So why is it so important?  

Consistency develops routines and builds momentum allowing us to get better each time. It forms habits that become second nature to humans. Think about a goal you have set; it requires you to constantly work at that goal and be consistent in progressing to achieve it. If you are not consistently focused on achieving it, you will fall back into old habits or lose interest. 

 

Consistency is the biggest factor between failure or success.

Consistency is especially important to all business aspects; customers expect the same standards everyday as the first day they came across your business. If you slip up, even just for one day, they are less likely to be a return customer/client. If you are the boss or in a leadership position, you must portray consistent behaviours and attitudes for your employees and staff looking up to you to follow. As they say… Consistency is Key!

Learn the power of consistency.

Once you learn how and are comfortable with changing your behaviour, anything is possible. Being consistent with small tasks in your day-to-day routine will help you accomplish big life goals – why? Because you can prove that with patience and consistency you can achieve the things you want in life and in business. How else does consistency help?

• Consistency allows you to measure success 
• Being consistent establishes your reputation and being inconsistent can damage it 
• Inconsistency creates insecurities
• Consistency helps to create momentum 
• Creates a sense of accountability
• It builds trust with your customers and clients
• Consistency creates habits and can change your identity for the better

The power of positivity is strong. In fact, positive thinking has been linked to an increase in psychological wellbeing and immunity, as well as better heart health.

Our thoughts are pure energy, electrical impulses moving across the gaps between neurons in our brain, and they are the foundation for what actions we choose to take, and behaviours we choose to exhibit. The more we focus on and think about something, the more we reinforce that thought and create its reality.

Consider it this way, the more you walk the same path in a field of long grass, the more you make the path permanent by flattening the grass. The same goes for our thoughts. The more we think something, the more we make that thought permanent, and therefore, our reality.

It is important to start the year off positively and show your team that this is your attitude for 2021, and it needs to be theirs, too. Like attracts like, so your attitude will be reflected in your team, and your team’s attitude will reflect back on you. This, in turn, affects your team’s chances of attracting success through positivity, or failure through negativity. Therefore, it is important to include people on your team that share your positivity and drive towards success, and will help you achieve it, as even one bad seed can infect the whole crop.

If you are not a natural positive thinker, there are ways to increase your positivity and change your thoughts. Strategies like using positive self-talk, e.g. “I may not have achieved that today, but I can try again tomorrow”, rather than, “I failed to get that done, I am a failure”; or, surrounding yourself with positivity, e.g. positive quotes in sight on your phone, office walls, even in the bathroom, all help increase your positive self-talk and overall positivity.

Being surrounded by positivity includes your team, so share strategies with them, and encourage positivity in the workplace. Also, if you find you or your team is succeeding  less than you expect, then consider whether your expectations are too high. Lowering your expectations, of yourself and your team, will help to ensure greater chances of success and, therefore, more reinforcement of your ability to succeed.

Team Building and Teamwork

To have a cohesive team, one whose members are cogs of the same wheel and working together towards common goals, you need to communicate through regular meetings. If you have not been having regular meetings, now is the time to set them up as they are crucial for teamwork and team success for several reasons:

1. Providing an open forum for members to reflect, discuss, and solve problems.
2. Helping members feel heard, understood, appreciated, respected, and valued.
3. Ensuring the whole team stays on-track and working towards shared goals.
4. Allowing members to wholly communicate and be understood,  as 55% of communication is conveyed through non-verbal means
5. Providing a ‘safe’ environment to share all information, as there is some communication which members would not feel comfortable sharing in an email or report.
6. Levelling the playing field – every member gets their say, not just managers, and everyone is heard.
7. Regular team meetings are crucial in reinforcing, and ensuring all team members understand, the business culture, policies and procedures, and expectations. It is in these meetings that you can reinforce positivity through sharing achievements, and seeing the team’s progress towards your goals.

 

What makes being consistent so difficult?

People can find it hard to stay consistent as we often distracted, we are not focused, committed, or disciplined enough to stick with something for short- or long-term results and benefits.

Principles on which consistency is based around?

Patience – Patience is the key to consistency: we must be patient and focus our efforts diligently in one direction to produce quality, lasting, tangible results. One of the main reasons people don’t stick with what they’re doing, whatever it might be, is simply impatience. A good example of this is in the world of diet. People try something for a week or two and, impatient for results, immediately run off to the next interesting thing that they see in an ad or on a website.

Belief – Likewise, failing to believe in what you are doing will definitely kill your consistency in doing it. Or, to look at it another way, make you much more consistent at NOT doing it. Your consistency, or lack thereof, in what you do is a good indication of your true belief about it.

Value – The perceived value for a particular thing, which results from the action you need to take into consideration. Everything that we do is generally motivated by one of two things: fear and desire. In either case, you take action based on perceived value: running from a bear has the value of saving your life, while running as a form of running has the value of maintaining your health. It is a natural tendency that if we fail to see return from whatever we’re doing, we are automatically demotivated and as a result, our consistency suffers.

Here are our simple tips to develop consistency and achieve success

• Set visible reminders
• Reward yourself 
• Do not forget the basics – do not give up, you will get there
• Give yourself time to see changes 
• Appreciate your new habits, to actually make change and have it happen consistently is a win so celebrate your new habit or consistent behaviour
• Visit a coach or a therapist to help identify what is triggering you or stopping you from being consistent in your daily life
• Use motivational tools and apps – there are so many amazing tools and apps available, find one that really resonates with you and your situation
• Set reminders, whilst we do our best to remember everything all the time, we are human, we do forget – reminders help us stay on track and focused

In Summary

• Habits are never easy to develop. And consistency is no exception to this rule. The definition of consistency is extremely simple. It looks easy. But, when you try to put it in practice, it can be quite challenging. Maintaining consistency is an essential thing for each and every one of us. However, most of us would have given it up at some point in our life. So, why does this happen? A common misconception about consistency is that it involves patiently repeating your efforts until you achieve the goals. Sadly, this is not entirely true. Instead, consistency is all about evolving. Yes! You need to be disciplined and willing to adapt to achieve your goal.Always remember that mindlessly repeating an action will never lead to any positive outcomes. You need to learn and adapt to your mistakes. Implement your learnings to improve your efforts while pursuing your goals and the results will be in your favour!

If you, or anyone you know, needs advice or help with any of the topics we’ve covered this month, or if you have any questions or comments about this month’s content, please get in touch with me via telephone on 027 447 7577, or email at steve@stevehockley.co.nz.

Google My Business

Google alone is a powerful tool for business as my statistics show, below.

This year, ensure you make good use of social media, too, to boost your business’s online presence and increase your chances of success.

Take a look at these free social media tools to get started: Google My Business; Facebook; LinkedIn.

FREE 90-Minute Consultation

Let’s get together and discuss your business, review your systems,
consider your goals, and take a fresh look at your business.

---