Consistency is the bridge between you and your dreams. It is the secret sauce to building the life you want.
It has become incredibly difficult to stay consistent—especially in this modern world.
A million things are competing for our attention. Instant gratification is definitely winning the battle against long-term happiness.
It is difficult to get started and even more difficult to stay in the loop.
You know the importance of consistency and its compounding effects.
But it just seems impossible to stay consistent.
Life gets in between, overthinking hijacks your mind, bad mood acts as a roadblock on your way to the destination.
So how to get past all of this and finally become consistent?
Here are 11 tips that will help you with it
1. Remind yourself why you started
What are you struggling to be consistent with?
Drinking water, journaling, exercise, side hustle? Whatever it is, remind yourself why you decided to do this.
Write it on a sticky note and place it somewhere you can see. Or write it in a notebook and label it as READ ME in big letters as if it can be seen from space. And place it somewhere you can see all the time.
The label will be your cue to open the book and read your reason.
Having your own reason to start a habit makes it personal. When things become personal, you feel a connection with it.
That’s the importance of your why.
But in between the hustle and the busyness of life, we forget about ourselves. Our dreams, goals, beliefs—all of these take a back seat when we are running to finish a college project or focusing on meeting a work deadline.
The busy work hijacks our attention. The autopilot mode shields us from our own self.
With constant reminders, you can get in touch with your dreams and goals. This is the first step to staying consistent.
Before you do anything, connect with yourself and understand why it matters to you. Write it down, read it every day—whenever it is possible—so that it gets ingrained in your mind and soul.
When life gives you curveballs or when you are having a bad day, this reminder will help you find your solid ground.
2. One thing at a time
If you have decided to make changes to your life, you are probably thinking of doing this for all areas of life—all at once.
That is, doing multiple things at a time.
You are setting yourself up for failure if this is your plan.
Instead, focus on one thing at a time, no matter how small it is.
Especially if you have been a chronic procrastinator or are stuck in a rut.
Trying to be consistent at many things at a time can be overwhelming—even if you have a strong reason for it.
You need to make things easier for yourself.
There will be friction when you get started. You will have to build up the momentum.
So start with one habit or task at a time.
If I start with one thing at a time, will I not fall behind? I want to build many good habits, so one thing at a time doesn’t sound helpful to me.
I hear you. I have had the same thoughts.
Is there a time when you started to do multiple things at once? Probably as a part of a New Year resolution.
And then what happened? Could you be consistent with even one habit?
Presumably, it’s a no.
So, isn’t it better to build good habits one after another rather than starting multiple ones at a time and failing miserably?
The initial phase is all about getting started. Once the momentum has been set, you can progress to doing two or three habits.
The secret to having many good habits is getting started with one and then adding more once it becomes as easy as brushing your teeth in the morning.
3. Start Small
You are crystal clear about your reason and decided on the one thing to get started?
Great.
Now we are going to start ridiculously small.
So small that you should have the feeling, “Really, this is all I have to do?”
Starting small helps to overcome the friction to get started.
Want to develop reading as a habit? Start by reading a page or reading for a minute.
Want to do journaling? Try one-sentence journaling.
Starting small is the way to trick your brain.
Slowly, when you feel that the friction has reduced, progress to the next level.
Start reading more pages. Advance to reading 3 pages, 5 pages, 10 pages and so on.
Try to journal one paragraph and then progress to one-page journaling.
With time, evidence gets built that big changes aren’t required to become successful. Baby steps are the building blocks of your goals.
4. Track your progress
Keeping track of your progress is extremely important. It helps you stay on track.
A habit tracker is the easiest way to do this.
Make an X or tick mark as you do the habit each day. Eventually, there will be many Xs and tick marks in a row.
That is the visual representation of your success. It will act as the evidence that you are a person who gets things done.
You will be motivated to keep this streak alive.
There are many habit tracker apps to get started with. Or you could use Notion.
But I highly recommend you start habit tracking the traditional way—using pen and paper.
Keep this in a place where you can see it.
Or make it in the book that was labelled ‘Read Me’.
Why notebook over apps?
Smartphones and digital devices are the gateway to the land of instant gratification. Your focus could easily be hijacked by a notification.
It is highly likely to lose hours doom scrolling social media and burying yourself in email and lose track of time.
When getting started, friction will have a stronger grip on you. So anything that makes it easier for friction to win should be avoided at all costs.
Also, there is something about physically recording your progress on paper that the digital version cannot provide.
When you feel like “let’s just skip today,” take a look at the habit tracker. Appreciate how far you have come.
The fire will come from within to keep on going.
5. Progress over perfection
Life is unpredictable. Things don’t always happen as we plan.
Every day cannot and will not be an ideal day.
You can get sick, have a bad mood, unexpected emergencies can knock on your door. Or you could be moving cities or changing jobs.
So how to stay consistent on such days?
Be flexible. And choose progress over perfection.
If you started with reading one page a day, read one sentence instead of not reading at all.
If you journal one sentence every day, then try to write at least a word—angry, sad, exhausted, happy, relaxed—whatever. Better than skipping a journal entry.
This might sound ridiculous. But it is worth it.
I am suggesting you go ahead and mark the habit as completed in your habit tracker.
Or even better, make a half cross or tick mark to show that the habit wasn’t done completely but you didn’t give up either. That’s grit. Discipline with self-compassion.
You chose yourself. You decided to be true to yourself and honour your hard work.
Yup, it is in the smallest way possible. You should be celebrating it instead of dismissing it as insignificant.
It’s a small win. And small wins contribute to big success.
6. Never miss two days in a row
No matter what you do, there will be days when you will be drained out, exhausted, overwhelmed. You will not even have an ounce of energy left in your body.
Maybe all you want to do is overthink and cry or watch Netflix or sleep.
That’s okay. Missing a day is fine.
But missing two days in a row is the beginning of the slipping away of habits. It’s the start of a pattern.
Pattern of failure—and soon, it will become your truth.
So, don’t let this happen.
This is a simple rule you should try to follow.
Inevitably, life will knock you down hard. Maybe you get sick and hospitalized or you have to take care of your family… anything drastic can happen.
On such days, following this rule might be extremely difficult.
If you had to miss 2 or more than 2 days in a row, it’s okay.
Don’t guilt-trip yourself.
Just get back on when you are able to.
Always look at your habit tracker.
Don’t let the empty columns demotivate you. Look at the journey before.
And get started.
7. Valley of Disappointment
You are putting in all the work but the results aren’t visible.
Maybe you have journaled for 30 days but still feel stuck. Or tried to grow an Instagram page by posting a reel every day for 30 days and got barely any followers.
There are no results, so why should I bother to continue? Such thoughts start popping into your mind.
Before you know it, you will skip one day. And then maybe back the next day. Then skip another and another. And before you know it—boom—you are back to square one.
The stage where the effort is high but the rewards are low is the Valley of Disappointment.
I came across this phrase in the book Atomic Habits by James Clear:
Similarly, habits appear to make no difference until you cross a certain threshold and unlock a new level of performance. In the early and middle stages of the quest, there is often a Valley of Disappointment. You expect to make progress in a linear fashion and it’s frustrating how ineffective changes can seem during the first days, weeks, or months. It doesn’t feel like you are going anywhere. It is the hallmark of any compounding process—the most powerful outcomes are delayed.
Maybe you didn’t know about this. Or you knew and let the disappointment score the basket.
Whatever it is, you cannot be lost in the Valley of Disappointment ever again.
You need a mindset change.
Understand that you will have to cruise through the Valley of Disappointment. It’s inevitable and part of the process.
Your reward is waiting on the other side of the Valley. So keep going.
Some people reach there faster. For others, it might take more time.
That’s because each person is different and their journey is unique. So do not compare yourself to others.
Keep going.
But in order to make a meaningful difference, habits need to persist long enough to break through this plateau—what I call the Plateau of Latent Potential.
8. Optimize Your Environment
You want to start eating healthy. The veggies for salad and cake and chocolate and ice cream are all in the same place—which one would you choose to eat?
It’s easier to consume the sugar-loaded, unhealthy junk food. The friction for choosing this option is minimum.
Because both the healthy and unhealthy food share space in the same environment.
Your environment plays a huge role in helping you stay consistent. It can make or break your efforts.
Willpower is not enough to stay consistent in your efforts.
You need to pay attention to your external environment. It should be designed to minimize the distractions.
The healthier option should be directly visible.
- If you want to go running in the morning, keep your running shoes and outfit ready the night before.
- Want to read for 30 minutes? Keep your phone in another room. Or at least keep it on DND or airplane mode. Place the book you want to read on the nightstand for easier access.
These small changes will give the gentle push needed to be on track.
9. Learn to Say NO
Someone or the other will invite you to a party or ask to go shopping with them or persuade you to binge-watch Netflix.
Do you say YES to everything and everyone because of societal pressure or not having the courage to say NO? This habit will be a roadblock to being consistent.
Saying YES to everything to people-please and avoid conflict—you will lose yourself. Your dreams and desires will disappear into the void.
Learning to say NO is crucial for staying consistent.
Saying NO to others means choosing yourself.
Real friends will respect and stand by you.
Remember, if you lose people because you chose yourself, they were never meant to be in your life.
Just ignore them and move forward. Because in the end, everyone needs to fight for their dreams all by themselves.
10. 2-Minute Rule
No matter what your reason is to get started with a habit, you will experience resistance to doing it.
No amount of willpower is enough to get over this.
So what can you do about it?
The 2 minute rule is the best way to get started.
Tell yourself that you can stop doing the task after 2 minutes. It’s a way of tricking your brain to do the work.
The chances are that you will continue the task beyond 2 minutes. This simple step helps to reduce friction and build momentum.
Even if you quit after 2 minutes, it still counts. Because you showed up.
It’s going to become your identity.
Slowly, try to improve. Go from 2 minutes to 5 minutes, 10 minutes and so on.
In short, if you want to stretch for 30 minutes, start by stretching for 2 minutes.
It sounds insignificant, but it works like magic. Definitely better than throwing the entire habit out of the window.
11. Forgive Yourself
Maybe the most important aspect of staying consistent is to forgive yourself.
Forgive yourself for missing a day. For missing more than 2 days in a row.
Don’t guilt-trip yourself for not being perfect.
The initial days are going to be a struggle. You will not see linear progress.
Remember, there is a Valley of Disappointment you have to cross.
Fall back and get back on your feet.
Forgive yourself for not attaining the perfect result. That is not possible because you are not a robot.
Conclusion
Being consistent is a battle you can win with the right set of strategies.
I hope this blog post has armed you strong enough to fight this battle and emerge victoriously.
You might also like:
➡️10 Real Reasons You’re Not Reaching Your Goals (And How to Fix It)
➡️5 Simple Rules to Help You Begin Your Self Development Journey
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