4 min read
Low exposure photo of yellow and gray light wallpaper photo – Roland Larsson (unsplash.com)
This Post Summarized (and some insight)
(post summary)
Consistency is arguably the hardest trait to acquire that is also a prerequisite for far-reaching success. Unlike hard work, it can't be simply brute-forced nor approached without minimal thought.
Many people believe hard work as the requirement for success. Very few see it another way. Whether you define success as a masters degree, a million dollars in cash, a luxury sports car, or two retired parents, hard work is never the best way to approach it. I used to consider it a good strategy; much like everyone else around me.
However, it's a poor approach. I believe it's flawed. Brute-force approaches work a majority of the time, but not all the time. Unless your definition of success is comfort through comfortable steps sprinkled with a little discomfort, then hard work will probably suffice.
That's where consistency differs.
Unlike hard work, consistency is harder to obtain and sustain. Anyone can get it, which doesn't make it rare to obtain but rather rare to see in most people. Not everyone can keep it for very long before losing grasp of it. It happens to me especially. Consistency involves you doing it even when it hurts, or when it generates no result, and loses you sleep. It's natural to feel like it's not worth your time when the result isn't shiny.
SO, HOW DO YOU BECOME 'CONSISTENT'? (without giving up of course)
Great question. The answer typically has to revolve around a burning passion for it. If you don't truly believe in the cause or project, it won't stick. I'm not talking about visualization but instead just "love". Love for the game.
You have to love waking up early, eating healthy, and completing the task because that's as far as it goes. We need purpose to continue. If you want to lose weight and simultaneously improve your mile time, you have to run when conditions couldn't be worse outside. Whether it's rainy weather, slight snow, wind, you still run. Not because you want to. But because you know there's no other way around it.
Nonetheless, this way of thinking doesn't apply to everything. If you're a person that enjoys editing videos, and does it in order to grow their name online and make money, then passion is absolutely your fuel. Anyone can see that. One thing I do feel like mentioning though is that these passions can eventually fade. It's happened to me multiple times. One month, you love writing, drawing, animating, and being creative. The next month, you would rather hop on the game and play with your friends rather than even spend more than a full 2 hours animating. (I'm used to long work sessions, so sorry if that seems off)
That kind of situation is common. I do plan on covering this in a future post. I believe there's plenty of detail in between the lines. Regardless, it's important to acknowledge that you will always fall out-of-love with this passion and the other at times. All the times. And by "lose", I really mean, "I would rather do this other thing than X." That's what I refer to as common. It's very rare to actually lose it altogether. Just please keep yourself motivated and look at other people's work and other people's story. That always keep my head up and wanting to do more.
1. The Only True Requirement, Real Passion
Passion gives you the energy that’s required to sit on your desk for multiple hours straight and just write away. Kind of like what I’m doing right now. If you believe in what you write, and believe in what you post, you will have virtually no limit to what you can do.
Passion is energy (motivation) that is naturally created. You can’t just “make it”. It has to just happen. If you admire someone that plays professional football, and want to be as good as them, but simply just don’t “love” the game like they do, you will never surpass them. Two people work hard. One has passion. You can easily guess who wins the duel. One person has an easy visual in their mind and clear roadmap to success. The road could not be clearer.
If running outside every day in the morning, even when it’s cold, sucks no matter how you try reframing your mind, then it just sucks. That’s really it. Chances are: you’re overcomplicating it. People severely underestimate their brain, both positively and negatively. If you deliberately know that an activity is hard to perform at consistently, and you just don’t enjoy it, trying to tell yourself that “this is fun” or repeating “I love doing this” will never ever work. Don’t be foolish.
You think with your brain. Unless you plan on changing your subconscious, then I wish you good luck. You’re fighting a losing battle that will never, not in a million attempts, result in your victory. It’s not luck, it’s the way you function. No probability favors your side.
So? Embrace it. You don’t like doing it. Great! Just embrace that. Don’t force yourself to paint a picture that clearly isn’t true. Again, passion isn’t made artificially, it’s born like a spark that immediately leads to a fire. There’s no multiple attempts, or retrying, it just happens once.
2. How To Not Lose Passion
Very often, I lose passion for the things I love doing the most. Countless times.
And this isn’t because I become depressed or emotionless or anything like that. In fact, it’s actually a very natural occurrence. For example, say you happen to find a new game on Steam that’s actually lots of fun to play but requires a ridiculous number of hours spent playing. Chances are, it’s extremely addicting. Doing anything besides playing the game is hard because it’s so fun to just do that one thing.
On occasion, that happens to me. I fall in love with doing something else (whether it be playing Sudoku, Chess, or some Roblox game) that yields me more happiness than doing a more productive activity. Naturally, we should always opt for the choice that yields us a higher ROI right now in the present moment. There’s no need to prioritize delayed gratification because I know this won’t impact me in the next couple weeks (hopefully).
In order to not lose passion, you have to treat it like playing a game. You spend a majority of your time doing it, but don’t ever over-spend on it. Do other things besides just work. If you work in the daytime, and then leave the night for playing, and create order in your mind, you will naturally want to increase the gap of playtime over time. Instead of playing the game from 8-10 during the night weeks prior, you might eventually alter it to be from 6-10 PM. Please don’t make that mistake.
Interchange the two. Do something that is really fun, and then the next thing, which is also fun, but not nearly as fun. One is addictive. The other is highly enjoyable and productive, but not anywhere near as addictive. Take breaks and give yourself flexibility. Otherwise, you’ll make what should be enjoyable and productive into work. If you make life feel like work, you will lose passion.
3. Never Ever Overwork
Unless you’re working on a project that has a strict deadline or really want something published by a certain day and time, then you really shouldn’t overwork yourself. Again, this is a recipe for disaster. If you stress yourself (even if it’s by barely anything), and make an enjoyable task feel like it’s limited and out of your control, you will want to give it up. The passion you once had will fade out of your grasp.
Think of yourself as Jello. You can mold Jello into an object’s shape or break it apart into a smaller substance. Instead of being limited to just one shape, it can transform into multiple shapes and tolerate hard hits directly to its surface. No damage taken. No matter the circumstances, you should always be willing to transform and alter your stance. What works now might not work in the future.
Especially if you’re young, you might struggle with adapting like an adult can. Sure, adults naturally have more responsibilities under their belt. However, they have the mental ability and fortitude to deal with new situations and adapt fast enough. When something goes wrong when they needed it do go right, they can transform quickly enough to end up with the favorable outcome.
Evidence-Based Advice (for instant consistency)
- Make the goal small first.
- Many people quit something before reaching any notable distance because the goal was too significant. Too big. Make it smaller and more consumable.
- Tie it to an existing habit. (really good tip now that I look at it)
- Your brain loves patterns and hates new actions that require conscious effort. By making new habits, or habit stacking, you allow the brain to perform the same action, but unconsciously.
- No decision = less friction.
- Decide when + where ahead of time.
- This removes mental willpower from the equation. Instead of telling yourself that “I’ll study later”, instead say: “at 6:30 PM, I’ll study for 25 minutes until 6:55 PM” –> and please, do not lie to yourself
- Have ego.
- Act like the person you want to become. If you’re dream is to gain 3 inches in height by drinking 4 glasses of milk a day and jumping for 20 minutes straight, then act like someone who already does it on a daily basis. More realistically, act like the goal is already accomplished before it really is. Have ego and believe in yourself more than you realistically should. Your energy will elevate you farther than anything or anyone else can.
- (actually called “law of assumption”, but I made it shorter and a little cooler)
- Expect bad days.
- Consistency usually ends up in the garbage when people think missing 1 day means they failed. Don’t.
- Sleep + The Right Environment.
- Sleep will always matter. Non-negotiable.
- The right environment depends entirely on the task to be completed. If it’s a task that requires true mental strength/speed/reliability, make yourself comfortable and play some music to get you going (momentum). If it’s a physical task, play some music too. Give yourself the fuel you need. Don’t ever feel ashamed for it. It’s not a limit but a pillar of stability.
Conclusion
Consistency is one of the most valuable traits in any successful entrepreneur, multi-millionaire, and modern-day artist. Sure, maybe they loved what they did, and that’s what made it easy. But watching your “dream” burn and crash try after try despite how much effort you put in every attempt is by no means easy. We all are bound to run down the hard and rocky path to success if that’s what it means to get to the other side of the hill. The winner takes it all.
P.S. I am also not saying that passion leads to success. This is an invalid equation. There’s far more detail that goes into the equation.
