3 Keys to Mastering the Art of Consistency

3 Keys to Mastering the Art of Consistency

By Simon T. Bailey |

Oftentimes, we think success is about doing things over and over again until we finally see results. But if you’ve ever been in a rut, you know that’s not always what works.
To really see upward movement in your life, you have to learn how to create a consistency cocktail. Consistency is made up of three key ingredients and, like any good cocktail, they should not be used in equal amounts.
Related: 10 Tips for Consistent Personal Growth
Ingredient 1: Walking the Walk
This first ingredient makes up the largest part of your cocktail. “Walking your walk” (and not just “talking your talk”) describes the little steps you take throughout the day that breathe life into your values. It’s not enough to just say you have values. You actually have to live them out in the small moments that make up your day.
For example, one of my core values is caring for the least, the last, and the forgotten. This shapes how I talk to people, what projects I accept, and the way I invest my money.
Ingredient 2: Connecting to Your Why
Constantly reminding yourself of the meaning,
the why behind your actions will allow you to power through even when you’re tired, stressed out or unmotivated.
I am caring for my health better than I ever have, and it’s because I am more connected to my why: I want to stay fit so I can live for a long time for my children and their children, not because I want to look good in photos. Once you make this mental shift, everything will change.
Ingredient 3: A Little Disruption
This is the magic ingredient—you just need a pinch of it. Consistency without disruption is simply a routine. Disruption means moving from the status quo to the cutting edge.
I am a huge believer in conducting a self-review every 90 days. That period of time is long enough to ensure you’re not jumping from goal to goal, but it’s regular enough to keep you from getting into a rut.
During your self-review, ask yourself: What have been my major successes in the past three months? How have I moved forward? Am I still moving in the direction I want to go? Is there a better way to do things?
Mixed correctly, this cocktail will allow you to develop confidence and become more purposeful with how you use your time and energy.
Related: What Is My Purpose in Life?
This article originally appeared in the September/October 2019 issue of SUCCESS magazine.
Photo by @kurteggering via Twenty20
Simon T. Bailey
Simon T. Bailey teaches people around the world how to build a bridge from their current reality to their brilliant future. He is the author of Shift Your Brilliance: Harness the Power of You, Inc. , and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating An Awesome Life, and when he’s not working, he enjoys rooting for the Buffalo Bills (his hometown team).

Napoleon Hill's 17 Principles of Personal Achievement

Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.

Napoleon Hill

 

October 26, 2016

Lesson 1: Definiteness of Purpose

Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. Without a purpose and a plan, people drift aimlessly through life.

Related: Answer 6 Questions to Reveal Your Life Purpose

Lesson 2: Mastermind Alliance

The Mastermind principle consists of an alliance of two or more minds working in perfect harmony for the attainment of a common definite objective. Success does not come without the cooperation of others.

Lesson 3: Applied Faith

Faith is a state of mind through which your aims, desires, plans and purposes may be translated into their physical or financial equivalent.

Lesson 4: Going the Extra Mile

When you go the extra mile, the Law of Compensation comes into play.

Going the extra mile is the action of rendering more and better service than that for which you are presently paid. When you go the extra mile, the Law of Compensation comes into play.

Lesson 5: Pleasing Personality

Personality is the sum total of one’s mental, spiritual and physical traits and habits that distinguish one from all others. It is the factor that determines whether one is liked or dislikedby others.

Lesson 6: Personal Initiative

Personal initiative is the power that inspires the completion of that which one begins. It is the power that starts all action. No person is free until he learns to do his own thinking and gains the courage to act on his own.

Lesson 7: Positive Mental Attitude

Positive mental attitude is the right mental attitude in all circumstances. Success attracts more success while failure attracts more failure.

Related: Why Your Attitude Is Everything

Lesson 8: Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm is faith in action. It is the intense emotion known as burning desire. It comes from within, although it radiates outwardly in the expression of one’s voice and countenance.

Lesson 9: Self-Discipline

If you do not control your thoughts, you cannot control your needs.

Self-discipline begins with the mastery of thought. If you do not control your thoughts, you cannot control your needs. Self-discipline calls for a balancing of the emotions of your heart with the reasoning faculty of your head.

Lesson 10: Accurate Thinking

The power of thought is the most dangerous or the most beneficial power available to man, depending on how it is used.

Lesson 11: Controlled Attention

Controlled attention leads to mastery in any type of human endeavor, because it enables one to focus the powers of his mind upon the attainment of a definite objective and to keep it so directed at will.

Lesson 12: Teamwork

Teamwork is harmonious cooperation that is willing, voluntary and free. Whenever the spirit of teamwork is the dominating influence in business or industry, success is inevitable. Harmonious cooperation is a priceless asset that you can acquire in proportion to your giving.

Lesson 13: Adversity & Defeat

Many so-called failures represent only a temporary defeat that may prove to be a blessing in disguise.

Individual success usually is in exact proportion of the scope of the defeat the individual has experienced and mastered. Many so-called failures represent only a temporary defeat that may prove to be a blessing in disguise.

Lesson 14: Creative Vision

Creative vision is developed by the free and fearless use of one’s imagination. It is not a miraculous quality with which one is gifted or is not gifted at birth.

Lesson 15: Health

Sound health begins with a sound health consciousness, just as financial success begins with a prosperity consciousness.

Lesson 16: Budgeting Time & Money

Time and money are precious resources, and few people striving for success ever believe they possess either one in excess.

Lesson 17: Habits

Developing and establishing positive habits leads to peace of mind, health and financial security. You are where you are because of your established habits and thoughts and deeds.

Related: ‘What You Think, You Become’