The Single Most Important Thing for Succeeding at Anything
Small consistent effort every day can do wonders
When I was in college, I never thought I would be an athletic guy. I used to look at my friends who were good at sports and wished I could be like them. I had this fixed mindset that you are either born with athletic abilities or not. I thought that my friends were naturally good at sports.
Fast forward to three years, I passed my Ph.D. qualifying exams. I was happy but I was thinking about my accomplishments and realized I know nothing outside academia. I found that I did not have any hobbies or skills outside my field. I started hating myself and decided to change.
The next morning, I woke up at 6:30 am and went outside for running. I could run only one mile and it was the hardest 15 minutes of my life. I felt like giving up the next morning but somehow I pushed myself to run the next morning. I kept this process for the next 4 weeks and I ran 3 miles for the first time in my life.
How did I improve so much in such a little time?
The simple answer is consistency. Consistency is the single most important thing to learn anything.
In any area of life, consistency matters most. No matter how talented you are, if you are not consistent enough, you can’t achieve success. I applied the power of consistency to learn two different skills. I not only became a better runner but also learned to play the guitar.
However, staying consistent is hard. Here are the few things I applied in my life to stay consistent:
1. Learning new things at the same time every day
I made this rule that I will run between 6:30 am to 7:30 am every single day. Learning new things at the same time every day takes out the willpower from the equation and brings automation in the process. When I started running, I hated it every single day. However, I pushed myself and after 2 months I realized that I was running on automation.
Nowadays, after brushing my teeth, I put on my shoes and go for a run. It has become a habit for me. I don’t need to think twice before running. That’s the true power of consistency.
Consistency can convert anything into a habit. You just have to be patient with learning.
I applied the same thing to learn guitar. I started playing guitar for 30 minutes after dinner every day. The consistent effort of 6–7 months helped me to play my first song on guitar.
2. Start with “Your Why”
Everybody has reasons to change. For example, people start exercising because they want to look good. My reason was to gain more self-respect and self-confidence. Every morning, when I am brushing my teeth I say to myself, “If you run today, I will respect you more.” This sentence fills me with energy and enthusiasm.
It’s very hard to stay on the course without having strong reasons to change. Another idea that you can try is to write your reasons on paper and stick to a place where you will see them throughout the day. I place it in my living room because that’s where I spend most of my time. Here is a snapshot of that:
Your reasons helps you maintaining consistency.
3. Measuring Progress
Tracking your progress is a powerful tool to help you stay on course. When I started running, I decided to track my running distance every week. I started with one mile and after two weeks I ran 2 miles and I ran 3 miles two weeks after that. It showed me that my efforts were producing results and these results helped me maintaining consistency.
However, don’t get too obsessed with results. Learning anything new is hard and requires time and patience.
Rome was not built in a day. I would suggest tracking progress on a bi-weekly or monthly basis.
When I was learning guitar, I did not see any results for at least 2 months. However, I kept going and believed that consistency would produce fruitful results.
4. Follow a Healthy Routine
This is perhaps the most important piece of the puzzle. Maintaining a healthy routine does not require tremendous effort. The rule is simple — take care of your physical and mental health. Exercising regularly (4–5 days a week) and eating healthy meals take care of the former while a good night’s sleep (7–8 hours) takes care of the latter.
A healthy body and mind are a must for feeling well and energized which ultimately helps you in doing things consistently. I have written an article about the habits that I developed for a healthy routine. You can check it out for more details.
Health is true wealth.
5. Believe in Yourself
Nothing is possible if you don’t believe in yourself. As Henry Ford said:
“If a person thinks he can or can’t, he is right”
believing in yourself is the first step towards success. Before starting, create a mental image of yourself achieving your goals. Half the battle is won if you think you can. Your belief in yourself will help you stay consistent when things are not going right.
When I started learning guitar, I faced a lot of challenges. I hardly saw any results after 2 months of rigorous training. I thought of giving up but my belief pushed me through those difficult times. One thing I knew that I was going to play guitar at some point. I was willing to learn guitar as long as it was going to take. Finally, my consistency rewarded me after 6 months.
One thing I have observed that learning hard things build self-confidence and self-confidence maintains consistency when things are not looking good. It’s like self-confidence and consistency support each other.
Conclusion
Consistency is the essential ingredient to succeed at anything. However, staying consistent is hard. These 5 things have helped me maintaining consistency and hope they can help you too:
- Having a schedule to automate the learning process
- Have a strong reason why you want to learn new things
- Tracking progress on a bi-weekly or monthly basis
- Eat and sleep well
- Believe in yourself
Invest in yourself to change your life forever