Making Progress
Making Progress
We're now in week 21 of 2024, and in previous years, I would have completely abandoned my New Year's resolution by now. But not this year. I made my health a priority and can finally see the results of my actions.
Interestingly, I found that the top resolution or goal for most of us relates to health, with improving fitness, losing weight and bettering one's diet being among the top five. This isn't my first time aiming to improve my health, but committing for more than a month has always been a challenge. I knew I had to do something different to sustain my actions.
This year, I took a slightly different approach. I did my research to determine the right workouts and diet needed to achieve my goals. However, I noticed a common theme among everyone I watched and talked to: the importance of consistency. They all emphasised that if you stick with it, you will eventually see results.
The problem I've had with being consistent was dealing with setbacks or irregularities in my routine. It was always difficult to get back on track. I knew my challenge wasn’t in knowing what to do; it was in making it possible for me to stay at it, no matter what.
So, I made a commitment to myself to be consistent and make it possible every day. I've reached a point where I see this as a lifestyle rather than just achieving a New Year's resolution. This period of focusing on my health has shown me that consistency is a skill that can be developed and applied to many areas of our lives.
I thought I would share what I’ve learnt during this process (with many years of failure) that could help anyone struggling with being consistent. They are:
Make it easy
A big reason why I’ve been able to stay consistent is due to me making it easier for myself. From my preparation to the workout itself, I’ve optimised everything to eliminate as many reasons as I can for me not to go.
For preparation, there is basically none. Besides the obvious step of changing into appropriate clothes and making sure I smell good before I go to the gym, I don’t need to do or take much with me. The only thing I take is a towel, and I'm good to go. I realised after a month, that I needed to ditch my wireless headphones. They became an excuse not to workout if they were not charged. I’ve found that the more preparation I had to do, the more friction I created for myself.
In terms of the workout itself, I don’t push myself past the point where I don’t want to go back the next day. Playing sport, I was always told that you had to push yourself every time. I was always in pain after my workout, which meant instead of going back, I created another excuse. I still get a good sweat on but remaining true to the action of doing it everyday, I’ve only missed a week in total this whole year where I haven’t done a workout.
Making it easier to go and return to working out every day made a huge difference in me being consistent. If you are able to reduce as much friction as possible, I think you give yourself the best chance of following through. What exact changes needed to be made will be different for all of us.
Do it for yourself
For everyone that has a health goal, there is a reason. Whether that be for longevity, playing sport, looking physically better, or having more energy, working out is a means to an end.
For me, I haven't always said I wanted to do it for me. If I had to be honest, when I was young, besides doing it for sporting reasons, working out was to try and get muscles to impress others. Now, I know that can be a great motivator; it just would never last over a long period for me.
With where I am in my life, I don't have the same aspirations to impress others. I knew I had to figure out what would be something that would really pull me through when things got tough.
I discovered that by focusing on me proving to myself that I can be consistent, I created a level of focus I had never experienced before. Making myself the end goal, rather than a means to an end, transformed my approach. While there was an aspiration to improve my health and be in better shape, it became more about proving me to myself I can be consistent, not for anything or anyone else.
Do not follow your mood
I've realised that one of my biggest faults in my decision-making process has been me allowing my current mood to dictate whether I take action or not.
Being aware of how you feel and using it to make decisions can be helpful. When it comes to socialising or partaking in something leisurely, I think understanding where you are emotionally should be taken into consideration. However, when it comes to making a decision on actions that are in line with a goal, I now believe your emotional state should take a back seat.
When I reflect on the times I set goals but didn’t follow through, it’s clear I let my mood influence my decisions. This is why consistency is hard—you need to either catch yourself when your feelings are trying to override your better judgement or block out emotions. I know people who can block their feelings and still go ahead. I tried that and failed miserably. I realised I needed to be more conscious that my emotions' can influence my choices and to actively pursuit the actions in line with my goals.
So I hope that's helpful. Again, it's only the first Monday of week 21, so who knows, I might fall off again. I have noticed that with a couple of adjustments, I've been able to commit to a goal that has always eluded me.
I believe being consistent is essential to any goal. Whether it's creating content, working out, or getting better at a chosen skill, if you ain’t consistent you will struggle to make big strides. With all pursuits, life will throw some challenges, so instead of avoiding them, I’ve found its best to set yourself up in a way to handle them.
So to whatever mountain you’ve chosen to climb, I wish you the best. If you’ve fallen off, it’s never to late to continue or find a new goal to pursue. I hope with what I’ve shared that it can help you continue your ascension, in whatever it is.
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