Consistently, Consistent

As close to magic as I know....

Whether you listen to the VoiceOver for accessibility, because you’re more of an auditory learner or so you can grab some movement while we’re together—it will consistently be an option.

Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

🙌🏼 I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of cool things in my life.

🙌🏼 I’ve worked with the tremendously talented photographer David Drebin in a photoshoot as a featured Fila Real Woman in NYC for Fila Brand.

🙌🏼 I’ve worked with Venus Williams.

🙌🏼 I said yes to Birkenstock — merging the power of my personal brand with theirs to create a magazine print advertorial.

🙌🏼 I’ve held two C-suite positions in global companies.

🙌🏼 I raised one incredible female human.

And, and, and….

And even with all these experiences, I’m clear about the one thing that made it ALL happen.

It’s my superpower, it’s my only one. And, while it works every single time, it surely is not sexy.

It’s consistency.

Whatever it is I’m doing or working toward, my philosophy and always-approach is a little bit, every day, until I’m dead.

See? Not sexy, almost morbid. Works every time.

Let’s break it down.

While being consistently, consistent is now a reflexive way of life for me—it wasn’t always.

As I worked my way there, in all things from parenting to movement to those big hairy audacious goals, I needed a framework of sorts to keep me on track and accountable.

My Wheel of Consistency (with a big nod to the Wheel of Life) is how I view everything.

The six areas of the wheel can exist by themselves but not for long as they depend on each other to create an authentic consistently, consistent life.

Routine and Habits

Admittedly this is an easier task for some of us than for others.

Me? I thrive on a routine I love (←this part is key). I firmly believe we can create daily rituals and routines to facilitate our being consistently consistent even if we’re people who thrive on the unexpected (enneagram 7 I’m looking at you!).

Discipline

I hate this word. Yep, Im admitting it. For some reason to me it brings to mind ‘doing something I don’t wanna just because I have to.’ It *brought* to mind.

Let’s agree to shift the way we view this word today together and forever. When it comes to creating a consistent framework in our lives discipline is a positive. It’s the habit of drinking a full glass of water before your coffee in the morning. It’s a *positive* sense of self-control and order that comes together to propel us forward no matter what distractions or roadblocks may conspire to get in our way. Consistency does require discipline, however, I venture to say you’ll quickly feel as I do that the ability to remain ‘disciplined’ becomes a habit as the goals and habits start to materialize.

Plan, Plan, Plan

I’m not a planner by nature. If left to my own devices I’d let each day unfold and see where it took me. Spoiler alert: I tried that once. It did not end well.

I share that because not only do I know if *I* can create a plan for my days—anyone can. I prioritize. I know what I complete best and when (work early in the day). I have clear goals for myself (BRAZEN not SMART. We’ll talk about those another day) and I have a consistent format to my days which, instead of being boring, serves as a reminder to me I know what I want, where I’m going and I am going to get there.

I always always always follow the plan unless….

Adaptability

Unless I can’t. When I owned my personal training studio I would often have women clients who’d lament a ‘bad’ eating day (their words not mine).

“I ate cake at work,” they’d tell me. “And then I figured the day was ruined so I went out for Mexican food.”

Each time I had these conversations (and there were many) I’d respond the same way:

If you walked outside and saw you had a flat tire—would you slash the other 3?

My client would always laugh—but the message got through as well.
The same applies to consistency in life.

Following plans and routines is important, but as important is the ability to adjust, adapt and pivot without missing that proverbial beat. Being adaptable means we shift as needed (even when that means some days not being able to work toward a set goal) without jettisoning our core principles and plans.

Consistency is about the long haul. - Carla Birnberg

Mindset

Years ago I was struggling. I decided to do some personal mindset work and was feeling pretty damn proud of myself for the shifts I was making. I took myself out for coffee and, after the barista asked how I was, I proclaimed: GOOD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN!

The barista gasped audibly and responded: You mean good things are happening.

She was right. Mindset is everything. Language matters. When we speak to ourselves (and others) in a way that reminds us we believe in ourselves it makes all the difference. A positive growth-oriented mindset reminds us we are resilient, encourages us to persevere, and contributes to helping us maintain sustained *consistent* efforts over time.

Reflection

Simply being consistent does not work in our favor if we don’t take time to pause and evaluate whether the patterns we are creating work. If we do this reflecting/evaluating too often we don’t allow our consistent patterns to take hold and propel us forward. If we wait too long without adjusting we may miss crucial areas for adjustment and waste precious time.

So now you know it….you know the foundation from which EVERYTHING — including this Substack community — is born.

You sure are welcome here and I hope you check back….er…..consistently.

Prompts for consistency:

Consider journaling this week around what each of these six areas of consistency mean for you and where you get tripped up. Notice where you hesitate.