Here’s a few thoughts I have on consistency and improvement.
Celebrate the little wins. Momentum and consistency are key to getting anything done. Find a way to motivate yourself into those modalities. Never be afraid to reward yourself if you’ve earned it, even if it’s small.
Daily progress need not be large, only consistent. Consistent progress, over time, becomes larger than what any other form of progress can give you.
Progress is subtle. You can’t look at how you were yesterday and see any noticeable difference. But try one year, or five years, or ten years. It starts to become more apparent. I see a lot of people make the mistake of judging their weight loss journey by how much weight they lose or gain on a weekly basis. If only our bodies made it that easy! Truth be told, there is a difference between the short-term volatility and the long-term trend. Investors know this well. You need to find the right time horizon in order to figure out what are the changes that really matter.
The battle isn’t against others. The battle is against yourself. If life is a game, other people are NPCs. The main progress you should be worried about — the main competition you should be having — is trying to get a higher score than whatever you had previously.
The best skill you can learn in life is endurance. If you can stomach exercising, or meditating, or building for 12 months straight, then you’re already ahead of 90% of the population. As I’ve mentioned, consistency is a key skill for getting anything done. At the heart of consistency is endurance. If you can deal with the same old routine, or fit in an exercise into a busy day, this is what really makes you consistent — and well-trained on the path to success.
