Choose to Take the Journey

Recently, I have been working on improving my consistency in meeting the needs I discussed in my post “Live a Life of Balance.” Eating a nutritious, unprocessed diet 6 days a week. Working out at least 4 days a week. Going out almost every night. And writing 8 posts a month (I will attempt more as my discipline gets tighter).

Then just before the holiday season, I came down with a bad cold that wrecked my rhythm. I couldn’t go to the gym for a while because of my poor physical condition. That’s fine, but when Christmas rolled around, I found myself also eating unhealthy, and not just for that day, but continuously until New Year’s Eve. With the start of the New Year, I renewed my commitment to healthy eating and exercise. I fell off the horse for a bit, but then I got back on. It’s very likely I’ll fall off again at some point in the future, but I also know that no matter what, I’ll get back on because of my commitment to consistency.

There are so many different things that will distract you and break your momentum: sickness, holidays, vacations, work projects, personal and interpersonal conflict, etc. The distractions will never go away. You can minimize them as you become more effective and efficient, but problems have a tendency to crop up when and where you least anticipate it. It will never be convenient for you to do anything consistently, whether that be hitting the gym or honing your craft, but you have to make the time to do it. No excuses. Not only does your success have to be earned, it must be re-earned, over and over again.

Here are a few ideas that have really helped me be more consistent:

1. Lower the bar. If I encounter too much emotional resistance to working out for say, an hour, I tell myself to just get on the treadmill for 20 minutes. Half the time I end up jogging for longer and even adding some weight training at the end because I’m already in that mode, but if I don’t exceed my initial 20 minute goal, I won’t beat myself up over it.

2. Focus on the value of your actions. If you do not perceive your actions as having a positive effect on your life, you will never get yourself to do anything. Every time you fall off, you must reaffirm your reasons for wanting to take on the desired habit in the first place. Envision your end goal and play it over and over again in your mind. For instance, when I find myself craving fatty, sugary foods (usually when I’m tired), I focus on my memories of feeling lazy and disgusting after eating such a meal rather than the taste of it (which is usually delicious).

3. Put yourself in the mood. Realize that consistency in and of itself is a valuable tool for putting you in the mood over an extended period of time. You must be consistent for the sake of consistency. I know that even if I put out a poorly written post on my blog, the act of writing anything will make it easier to put out a better post later in the week because I’ve gotten in a writing mood. The same is true of any long-term behavior.

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