Consistency Part 1: But I thought I was supposed to meet my needs?
“Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally. It comes from what you do consistently.”
This is true of anything - achieving work-life balance, self-care, your sleep, health, or fitness goals/routines, being an anti-ractist, parenting, dog parenting/training, journaling, creating, crafting, being true to you, replacing bad habits with good ones, having a successful career, creating a positive learning environment where students learn, etc. No matter what it is you are working on or working toward, you must consistently and intentionally take steps to achieve and maintain success through the struggles, mistakes, and failures.
I know, I know. You are probably thinking but Veronica, you have said over and over again that you need to meet your needs and listen to yourself - consistency and adjustment are on two ends of the spectrum.
You’re right and, yet, here we are - me talking about consistency because the truth is there is a very fluid tension between the two that you need to figure out for yourself. Yes, it is different for everyone - there is no “one size fits all.”
Your process should start with knowing or getting to know yourself. If you are naturally a disciplined, structured, routine-driven, and consistent person then you can probably use more adjustment and flexibility. If you tend to be a more flexible, go-with-the-flow, my schedule doesn’t define me person then you probably want to err on the side of trying to be more consistent especially at the start of something new. Then you can move onto adjusting more later in your process. As I’ve learned from my Dad, life is all about finding balance and everything in moderation.
If you need a more clear definition of consistency to get you started, here you go: enacting any new routine consistently means completing the routine, habit, goal every time you planned for it. For example, you decide you want to work out Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays so every single Monday, Wednesday, and Friday you must work out; or you are trying to hold students accountable to your expectations which means you must redirect, reinforce, or correct any behaviors or misbehaviors every time they are observed; or you want to live a balanced lifestyle so you stop checking your work email after 5:00pm so once 5:00pm hits you must log off every day and not return to it; or you want your dog to go to his/her bed every time someone knocks at the door so you have to get your dog to their bed every single time someone knocks on the door. I am sure you get the picture by now. Consistency is in how often the you act on the goals, routines, or habits you are taking on - sometimes, every other time, or almost every time (inconsistent) versus every time (consistent). When you act inconsistently, without meaning to, you are sending the message to yourself and whomever else is involved that your routine, goals, or habits don’t really matter. This can lead to negative feelings of failure or “I can’t do this.” On the other hand, consistently engaging in your goals, routines, or habits fosters predictability and objectivity which allow you to become comfortable and motivated to continue on your journey toward success. The process becomes a means to an end - the end being the results and success you achieve. To maintain consistency, your goals, routines, and habits must be clear and observable so that you can visualize your own success and make it happen for yourself. Effective people value the power of consistency because, ultimately, it leads to success - consistent action creates consistent results (Christine Kane).
