Keep Going
The challenge of everyday consistency
Why is it so hard to be consistent?
The days are long and there are many. Some of us are better than others at doing the basics every day, and even if they appear to do certain things every day there are inevitably days where things are missed.
It’s ok to be human, slip up and fall off track. That’s part of life and the nature of a ‘season of life’ you may be in. I could go on about how much life changed for me adjusting to life with a second child, I didn’t give myself a chance to acclimate to the changes and repeatedly got frustrated not being able to do the things I wanted to do.
When I started writing this newsletter, I appreciated the fact that I was going to have to be consistent with writing and finding things to write about. And once I missed a week, two weeks and three weeks, I allowed myself to get in my own way and thus haven’t published anything to this point.
Just get going
When I initially started putting out posts, I really just needed to get something out there because the idea had lingered in my mind for so long. If you’d like to read the first 6 posts, you can check them out here.
I usually find the hardest thing about trying something new is knowing where and how to get started combined with the action of getting started. With the new year around the corner and fresh resolutions expected, we come to a yearly dilemma. It’s great to have goals and ambitions, ideas about doing things better or getting back into a better routine. But there’s nothing stopping you from starting that routine or new habit tomorrow. Why not get a head start?
Regardless of your goals, the most important thing is to create the structure and environment to make that positive shift. I will often reference and call back to Atomic Habits by James Clear. One of the most helpful quotes I have found from his book is as follows:
“You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.”
As a teacher, I use this quote when I attempt to motivate my students to look at their habits. While we all {hopefully} have the same goals to do well, we have to have a set process to help get us to the results.
How can you be more consistent?
In order to be more consistent, you have to first have the goal to want to be more consistent in a certain area. Whether that’s eating better, getting fit, reading more, writing more, anything you want to do to make your days more enjoyable and feel better.
We all have the same hours in the day and a wide variety of responsibilities, so what allows some people better use of their time then others? You can say somewhat simply it comes down to making time. If you can add more structure into your life, you can find more freedom. By creating less situations where you have to question what to do, you can find more time to do the things you want to do.
By deciding on a time when you are going to do something ahead of time it opens up other space in the day to do what you want or need to do.
As an example, there are many responsibilities in the life of a teacher including grading and planning. So I can say that on Mondays I will use my free time to plan for the rest of the week, and on Tuesdays I will get any grading done that I need to. Grading will likely get two designated days if not more and of course plans change but at least I have a starting point.
Another quick example:
Each night, after I put my kids to bed and sit down at the table I will plan out my workout for the next day or plan what’s for dinner tomorrow night.
The more specific you can be with respect to the new habit you want to create the better. Leaving any room for ambiguity creates the potential for not keeping the habit. The more things I tend to set up ahead of time, the more motivated I feel to get started doing them. If I take out my kettlebells at night before going to bed, I am much more eager to get downstairs at 5am.
You can download a list of resources from Atomic Habits to help build your own improved daily routines here.
Setting out to make improvements in your life is challenging. There is bound to be struggle, mistakes and room for improvement. Every day is a challenge but you can set yourself up for success if you take the time to create better structure and habits.
You don’t need to wait for the new year to start making changes.
Why not plan tonight to get started tomorrow?
Thanks for reading.
Brad