3 major roadblocks preventing you from being consistent

Doing all you can, still struggling with consistency?

Unless you have been living under a rock, you might have heard about this already.

“CONSISTENCY”

“The power of SHOWING UP”

If you need to excel at anything, you need to be consistent and show up every single day and you need to keep doing this until it starts showing results. The whole premise of this idea is, that by committing daily and doing it repeatedly, you get better at it.

Remember, quantity > quality.

The more you do something, the better you get at it, until it reaches a point when it becomes second nature and ultimately a part of your lovely identity. This is possibly the stage when you start getting results.

This could be applied to anything.

If you want to learn swimming, you can watch all the possible videos about swimming, read massive books, or book the most expensive class with a world-renowned swimmer.

While all of these will help you in some way or the other, nothing on earth will help you swim unless you get out there in the water and start moving your limbs.

Will you suck at first; there is absolutely no doubt about it.

Like any other skill, you need to get a hang of it, learn the tricks of the trade and that’s exactly where showing up helps.

While there is a good chance, that some of us will be able to pick up the said skill with ease, or some might take longer to learn, you will definitely get there.

As long as you keep practising and paddling in the water, sooner or later you will emerge as the human version of the fish and glide your way through water effortlessly.

Well, if we do know how important it is to show up, then for god’s sake why do we fail to do so. Simply put, because it is not easy, there are unseen hurdles that keep you from being consistent. Once you are able to identify the major roadblocks, it helps you to tackle the issues head-on and get to the groove of things.

Let’s have a look at what these roadblocks are that prevent you from being consistent:-

1. Because you lack motivation

“Motivation” in today’s day and age is highly overrated. This term is thrown around in all its glory like kids throw ball.

Every possible task is now associated with motivation. We seem to be waiting for the perfect moment to make a start.

Here’s the thing, you will never be motivated all 365 days in a year to do anything.

Do you need the motivation to pay your bills, show up at work, to drive your car? No right, so if you truly want to get good at something, you don’t need an external source of motivation, like your mum kicking your ass every morning to go to that football practice back in school.

The math is simple: The more times you do something, the better you get at it.

As long as you can apply this concept in your daily life, the better it gets to show up.

It all comes down to the compound effect. You start today, and you will be 1x,2x,3x…10x better at it a few days, weeks, months, and years down the line.

If you treat it as something that can only be done once you have the required motivation, there is a good chance you will not even begin, or call it quits before giving it a fair chance. You will have to treat it like a daily chore.

Do it because there is no other alternative than to sit down and put in the required work. Do it as your life depends on it.

Not motivated enough, do it anyway. What could you possibly lose?

“First, forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not.” — Octavia Butler

We don’t nearly think twice or wait for the perfect opportunity before we brush our teeth every single morning, there is no dopamine hit or a feel-good factor at the end of having brushed our teeth. Nor do you cross-check it as an important activity that you got done for the day.

This is because your system has been fine-tuned to brush every morning and night. You do it on autopilot mode. It comes naturally to you without putting much thought into it.

This is exactly what you need to strive for when picking up a new skill.

Without thinking too much, just make a start and keep doing it, no matter you awful you seem to be at it, in the beginning. The goal is to reach a stage, where it no longer feels like an activity you need to do by putting conscious effort.

2. Because you are impatient

There is a good chance that you have already made a start to work on that one thing that you have been wanting to learn. But somehow, showing up day after day is disappointing. This mainly happens when you don’t get to see results.

We are living in an era of instant gratification, where everything is just a click or swipe away, be it groceries, food, furniture, tickets, or even a date, everything happens instantly.

And if it takes any longer, it is simply termed as “not worthy” of your precious time. After all, we have much more important things to do in life like solve world hunger.

We as humans have forgotten the law of nature.

We no longer want to wait and learn how to walk first, but we instantly want to start running in the track field and win amazing prizes. This is not how it works and we on a subconscious level know it.

“Awesome things take time”

We tend to focus on the end goal more than the process itself.

The trick is to fall in love with the process rather than obsessing about the results. Focus on getting better at your craft and once you do get better, it will start showing results. Till then have patience and keep working on honing your craft.

3. Your “why” is not strong enough

When you decide on a goal or pick up a skill to learn or excel at, there is a definite “why” associated with it.

Your “why” is the sense of purpose, your motivation, your reason.

It could simply be to improve yourself, build better habits, up-skill to be able to land better job opportunities, achieve social status, earn more money to pull yourself and your family from the trenches of poverty.

Whatever your reason might be, unless your “why” is not strong enough, you wouldn’t give it your all. Every time you feel like there are no results, and the needle of your life is not moving, it is your “why” that will keep you going.

It simply translates to how bad you want it.

What could be the worst possible thing that could happen if you give up?

You would be in the same place that you are today where you were years ago, and possibly in the future too. And if that thought doesn’t make you shudder and send shivers down your spine, then you either need to re-consider your goals or find a better “why” that will make you stick.

Final Thoughts

There is no alternative to being consistent, you have to do it no matter what, once you identify the above-mentioned roadblocks, overcome them with the following:

• Show up, motivated or not.
• Fall in love with the process instead of the end goals.
• Choose a strong “Why”