Be disciplined by just reminding yourself of these two words.

Rome was not built on one day!

This is not a clickbait article, therefore to not waste any time let’s jump right into it. The two words are accumulation and consistency.

Personally, I do not think that these are secrets but sometimes a friendly reminder never hurts anybody and I need to be reminded on a daily basis.

Accumulation

No matter how small your contribution might be in direction of your dream or vision of yourself, your business, or your family and close friends, every time you do something it will add up.

It doesn’t matter what you do it will never be in vain.

If you think about it, Newton’s law is also applicable in psychology. Every action will cause a reaction. You might not notice it but even when you are just with yourself, what you do or not do will leave an impression and form the person that you are now in some way. But nothing will be in vain, therefore it will be added or subtracted in some way. To ensure that more will be added than subtracted we need to keep “consistency” in mind.

Consistency

To accumulate small wins you need to keep doing what you need to do. But doing is essential, especially if you have a dream or vision to chase.

I’d like to add at this point a small reminder of why it is important to keep going on a consistent basis. Unfortunately, physics does not always work in our way.

If you think about the energy conversation law:

Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed — only converted from one form of energy to another.

Keeping that in mind, it means that the energy you put in gets converted into another form of energy. But every system, for instance, our body, returns to its initial internal energy level which is the lowest level of the necessary energy for a system to just be.

In other words, in case you stop putting energy (in other words: effort) in your dream or vision (in other words: system) it will still create an output (in other words: subtraction) until it reaches again just its initial level of internal energy. This is why, for instance, each muscle declines after not being trained or used for some time. Of course, this does not mean, as soon as you stop training, your muscles will shrink. The velocity of output is not in the speed of light and the volume is small. Therefore the energy output will be consistent but in small amounts.

On the other hand, consistency creates growth. Thus, accumulation keeps the new level of growth for a certain amount of time until you add new energy (efforts) to it to reach a new higher level than the one before. There is no barrier, no limit that can stop you as long as you keep going on a regular basis.

The beauty lies in the multiplication of accumulation, consistency, and time. It creates a compound effect. You will get momentum which will help you tremendously to achieve what you’ve set your mind to. It doesn’t matter what you want to achieve, there are no limits for disciplined people.

The picture I choose for this piece with the word “mindfulness” is the necessary fuel of accumulation and consistency. Being mindful and keep reminding yourself about these two essential puzzle pieces is necessary on your journey of being disciplined. It is the basis to achieve every kind of desired change.

As complex as we are as human beings, fellow writers also offer beautiful pieces in regards to mindfulness and the challenges which they are trying to overcome. Therefore a shoutout to Amy Rosie with her article “I believe in you and thus I believe in myself” which I happily recommend. She picks up a very important topic!

We are not only influenced by ourselves but also by the external environment and groups, in a good and bad way. In her article, she describes the inspiration she picked up while interacting on Medium with fellow writers. I love her piece because it inspires you to take chances to grow instead of getting overwhelmed by others' journeys and how far they have already come.

P.S.: If you like to experience Medium yourself, consider supporting me and thousands of other writers by signing up for a membership. It only costs $5 per month, it supports us, writers, greatly, and you have the chance to make money with your writing as well. Of course, you can cancel the membership anytime. By signing up with this link, you’ll support me directly with a portion of your fee, it won’t cost you more. If you do so, thank you a million times!