4 Effective Ways To Be Consistent.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally  published 16th November, 2020 and has been updated for freshness,  accuracy and competence

The curtains stood motionless without remose as the paper-weight insects persisted in getting it folds move an inch. Tiny brown particles hovered the tiles and every pieces of object that once gave the living room it beauty. 

It’s been 8 weeks since the house felt the soothing presence of Mrs. Adetola. She made a home out of the 4 bedroom bungalow Mr. Adetola built 60years ago.Oh! She missed him.  

Standing  two steps to the corridor was her favorite plant. “hmm. Smells nice.” She would affirm, wearing a reassuring smile after reaching to inhale the fragrance of the rose flower.

Now she is at Bahamas. “Ket, don’t forget to care for the rose!” she reiterated before living to pay a visit to her son’s family. She hope he does. 

Three months gone. Coming back, where she calls home now looks like an abandoned house in  the scene of a scary movie. But something startled her even more. A brown tilted plant in a fractured sand hugged her sight.  It wasn’t the same flower she left three months ago. The rose flower had suddenly been transformed. Pacing four steps closer, a clearer view made her realize the flower had suffered thirst for a long time. The dried sand, and fractures formed across the sand reaffirmed it.

Consistency is the thing with healthy wings in attaining mastery. God buried potentials beneath the fertile palpable and abstract composition of every human. These potentials  are more like the cultivated rose flower in the above story. It has the potential to bloom and become a center of admiration because it was buried within a fertile soil. When it was taken cared of, it bloom but when Ket failed to consistently water it, protect it, and provide it with the necessity for it growth, it withered and lost it beauty.  

One of the major reasons why your effectiveness at a talent,  skill and other potentials seems low, may be inconsistency. This might have camouflaged and prevented you from thinking the solution to the problem is consistency. One thing your potentials cannot do without is, you. God placed it in you because he knows you can nurture and maximize it. The rose flower in the story was left at the mercy of withering because of “inconsistency.” There is possibility that it was watered once in a while. But even if it was, the fact that it wasn’t a consistent act left it at the mercy of withering. Your potentials can’t be maximized if you don’t commit to consistently nurturing it; it either stays untapped or operate at a less effective level.  You can’t reach it peak when you don’t consistently put the necessary effort to attain mastery at it.  

Consistency  simply means, “repetition at the necessary pace.” 

When you desire to be good at what you do, consistency is an act that you can’t do without. A musician who wants to reach the peak of his profession has to consistently engage in rehearsals and training. A fashion designer who desires to create and sew trending designs, must consistently practise to achieve this. This is same with other potentials. Consistency can’t be boycott in attaining mastery and effectiveness. Having known this, let’s look at the causes of inconsistency as well as it remedies. 

1. Lack of planning

When you fail to plan how to achieve a certain result, you will realize how inconsistent you will be in making the necessary efforts even if you desire to consistently make efforts. King Solomon gives his counsel on planning; The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” (Proverbs 21:5). Lack of planning can bring about detours and dead end. Have you ever been caught in a moment you were called to take-up responsibilities you weren’t prepared? Because you never thought of it nor plan for it, there is a high tendency you will fail at it. That’s exactly what lack of planning does. It limits your abilities because you didn’t nurture it. 

Remedy

Planning.

From the first statement of King Solomon, “The plans of the diligent lead to profit…” we learn that the antidote to failure, complacency or mediocrity, is planning. Learn to plan your  journey to attaining the peak of your potentials. It will save you from dead ends and detours, as it will help you develope the habit of consistency in other facet of your life as well. 

2. Distractions

Attaining the peak of your potentials with the aid of consistency in the face of distractions is as hard as trying to shed off weight on your first gym appointment. Distractions are those situations, attractions and things that takes your attention off your goal. When you plan your journey to attaining effectiveness in your potentials, distractions are forces you will need to stand up against because they have the ability to get you off the radar. A desire to abandon your potentials because it’s not yielding more at the moment, is an example of distractions. Criticism, laziness, etc are other forms of distractions.

 Remedy

Control Your Distractions 

You can’t take distractions off your journey. An attempt to do that is like trying to get off every grain of sand off the ground you walk on. You can’t take out distractions but you can curb them by not taking your eyes off the big picture: always recall the goal and the benefits of attaining   effectiveness.

Another way to control distractions is to keep trusting your process. When you trust your process, your commitment will effortlessly breed consistency in your allegiance to attaining the maximum effectiveness in your journey. 

3. Lack of Accountability Partner.

People often neglect the effect of having accountability partners in attaining mastery. An accountability partner is someone who you can share you plans and visions with, and partners with you to achieve it by reminding you those plans and helps in disciplining you to achieve them. When you don’t have one, you  can easily attain laxity in your journey, which breeds inconsistency.

Remedy

Get A Partner.

Your accountability partner can be a family member, friend, business partner, roommate, etc. Once you have one, you have to be willing to let the person know his/her efforts to help you stay on track is worth it, and appreciated  because if you don’t, the person might be uninterested in your journey, which will definitely affect your consistency. Your efforts count as well. 

4. Stress

Stress has a way of draining your ability to think effectively, plan, control distractions and maintain a holistic health, which are necessities to attaining effectiveness at a potential.

Remedy

Get Some Rest and Do Something You Love.

To overcome stress, you need to takeout time to rest your brain and bones, and also engage in a hobby. Resting and doing something you love keeps you in an emotional high and improves your creative prowess. This in turn helps you plan, which breeds productivity and effectiveness.

Inconsistency is a malady to attaining effectiveness at a potential. Thus taking necessary measures to eradicate it, is key to attaining mastery and productivity.

Aside the above mentioned  remedies, affirming to yourself your potency to be consistent, will be a plus to helping your subconscious mind believe becoming consistent is possible regardless of your schedule and the distractions that boldly stand as obstacles.

In the blog post, “Why You Need And How To Create Morning/Daily Affirmations.” I wrote to you, how saying “Daily Affirmations” has been a great big bundle of angelic help in going through every daily experience, either positive or negative. 

An amazing story written by Anthony C. Ejiogu on thesuccesselite.com about a young man who was transformed by an affirmation he consistently reminded himself by using it as his phone’s password. 

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