The one universal rule to succeed at anything.
The number one key to success isn’t about any one set of strategies. . .
It isn’t a particular set of “secrets” available only to an elite group. . .
It isn’t a long set of standards. . .
And it isn’t rocket science!
Instead, success is about ONE pivotal rule: CONSISTENCY
If you go to the old faithful Webster dictionary and look up the word, this is what you find:
Definition of consistency
Whenever I’m thinking about a word, I love to go to the reliable Webster dictionary. This probably is due to the fact that English is my second language, and some times I want to be totally sure of the meaning of a word. So, here is what I found about the word consistency:
1a: agreement or harmony of parts or features to one another or a whole, ability to be asserted together without contradiction
b: harmony of conduct or practice
2: degree of firmness, density, viscosity, or resistance to movement or separation of constituent particles
3a: firmness of constitution or character
If you pull all of this together, you discover that consistency is being firmly persistent in your conduct or practice, without contradictions, which results in firmness of character.
Can you see why consistency is the one universal rule you need to succeed at anything?
That said, if you want to be consistent you have to come up with specific things you want to be consistent about. Here are a few examples:
Examples of Consistency
New habit: If you want to establish any kind of new habit, you have to practice it consistently every day. And to do that, there’s where systems and programs come handy to remind you and to make it easier to be consistent.
Work culture: Set cultural standards and stick with them over a long period of time. If, one day, you encourage all your employees to take breaks at their leisure, but on another day you reprimand a worker for being gone too long at lunch, your workers won’t know how to react, because they won’t know what it is you really want from them.
On the other hand, if you’re consistently strict with the procedure for taking breaks, all your employees will be on the same page. There will be fewer miscommunications, and soon everyone will know what to expect when taking an action.
Connecting with your mate: For your love connection to remain fresh and loving, the experts say you need to consistently spend about 6 hours a week connecting in different ways. Like taking a few seconds before leaving and when coming back to express affection, having a date night, spending at least 20 minutes every day having a conversations, and similar things.
The successful musician has accumulated many hours of consistent practice .
The successful entrepreneur has spent countless hours of consistent marketing and creativity.
The successful leader shows consistent behaviors and effective communication.
The successful parent has given priority to spending time with the children and modeling the right behavior consistently.
Successful lovers have spent much time connecting and enjoying each other consistently.
How to practice consistency
Some general ways to practice consistency in your every day life, and therefore making it easier to be consistent in specific situations are:
If you say you’re going to do something, do it.
If you say you’re going to be somewhere, be there.
If you initiate a new business process or initiative, follow through.
If you promise your partner you will spend time with them, take the time.
If you decide you’ll give your full attention to the person you are talking with, put distractions away and focus on them.
In my experience, consistency is a must for relationships to flourish and for businesses to grow.
Why consistency is a must
Accountability. Consistency creates accountability for yourself, for your team, and for your family. When you create a set time to check on your progress, or to report on progress, can be the catalyst that moves an initiative along to a successful end.
Measurement. Unless you try something new for a period of time and in a consistent manner, you can't decide if it works or not. As you measure, you might need to do little tweaks to help you or others get to success.
Success record. Growth of any kind requires a track record of success. You can't establish a track record if you are constantly shifting gears or trying new tactics. Many efforts fail before they get to the finish line, not because the tactic was flawed or goals weren't clear. The problem is often that yourself or the team simply didn't stay the course long enough to achieve the objective.
Predictability. Your employees, your customers, and your family need a predictable flow of information from you. If you start a campaign or initiative only to end it before it gains traction, people don’t know what to expect of you. It's more effective to communicate continually. Run many advertisements. Write numerous blog entries. Hold weekly meetings with your spouse and with your team. If people can depend on you giving them reliable information, gossip and conflicts will diminish and there will be more efficiency.
Reliability. People pay as much or more attention to what you do as to what you say. Consistency in your leadership serves as a model for how they will behave. If you scream at your kids, don’t expect respect from them; they will scream back at you. If you treat a meeting as unimportant, don't be surprised when you find they do the same to fellow teammates or even customers. Consistently match your actions to your words and people will understand they can count on you and will start modeling your behaviors.
When something doesn't work, when you don’t get the success you expect or want, look back at what happened and ask some serious questions:
Did we shift gears too quickly?
Did I or part of the team not deliver on a commitment?
Was the expected outcome off base from the start?
Did my behaviors consistently support my words?
Most of the time, the reason for disappointing results tracks back to lack of consistency. Practice consistency and you will succeed!