The power of consistency

BY DANIEL COLE

The American Life Coach Marie Forloe once said, “Success doesn’t come from what we do occasionally, it comes from what we do consistently.” It took me fifteen years of consistent writing before an opportunity presented itself to write for one of the South African Community Newspapers, and fifteen years of consistent public speaking to: small, large, and diverse groups before having my radio talk show. Most people give up too soon because they have a low tolerance for delay.

In his book, ‘The Outliers’ Malcolm Gladwell wrote about the 10,000 hours principle, which says, it takes ten thousand hours of deliberate practice to gain mastery or become world-class in any chosen field. While recent studies have shown that this rule does not apply to all fields, Malcolm’s idea is that peak performance is only attained through consistency and deliberate practice.

You are trusted, only when you are consistent, and trustworthiness is one of the hallmarks of successful people or businesses. Take a look at the Coca-Cola company, for the last 130 years, they’ve maintained a consistent brand logo, not only has the company font remained the same since the 1900s, their font colour hasn’t changed. Remember, the familiarity principle – the simple act of becoming more aware of and familiar with a: name, brand, logo, and proposition makes people increasingly likely to accept it. It’s no coincidence that today, products of The Coca–Cola Company are consumed at the rate of more than 1.9 billion drinks per day.

Consistency is not only necessary for personal pursuit, but it is also vital for those in business, either selling a product or rendering a service. Remember, the Brand and Marketing Rule of 7 says potential customers need to see an ad seven times or more before they buy. After all, research shows that, on average, you have to see an ad seven times before you even notice it.

One of my proven methods of staying consistent is I apply the law of time perspective to whatever I do. The law states that: The most successful people in any society are those who take the longest time period into consideration when making their day-to-day decisions. How does this law apply? The time frame I often set for my goals will always nullify any reasons to get discouraged on temporary setbacks, if a goal has a time frame of ten years, experiencing a setback in the second year is not enough to quit, there are still eight years ahead. The challenge for most people is they want things so quickly, and they want it so soon. Everything of substance takes time.

All champions, outliers, and trailblazers are products of consistency. Consistency is built on: focus, discipline, and clarity of purpose. Consistency is the building block of credibility and without credibility, it is difficult to succeed in any life endeavours. Consistency is the foundation of predictability, and when an action has become repetitive or consistent over a long period, it always makes the outcome predictable.

Consistency is not developed by default. You have to be intentional about it. It’s not a spiritual gift given to a select few, it’s born out of a strong resolve to never give up. Consistency anchors on self-discipline. I have met few people if any at all, who succeed in life without being consistent.

Remember, it takes time to build a good reputation and it takes a consistent habit to sustain it. Without proper clarity of what you want in life, it will be difficult to stay consistent, and when your energy is not channelled to a specific goal, you just wander through life.

Be consistent in your pursuit of success and excellence. If you want to be taken seriously in life, stay consistent. Respect is earned through consistency. Positive thinking or affirmation is not a substitute for consistency. It is consistently working out that builds the muscles. Stay consistent with your dream, stay consistent in your pursuit. Any goal is achievable if you don’t relent in its pursuit.