This weekend just gone by was the final module of our current hypnotherapy practitioner diploma course. A number of our students are becoming graduates and are readying themselves to set up in business. One of the replies I give when asked about some of the more important aspects of developing an effective business, is one whereby I promote consistency – continuous forward progress. For me it that which led me to be able to run marathons and ultramarathons, then go on to become a weightlifter, write books, research, write academic papers and run my hypnotherapy training college. I thought I’d write about that today.
Debaish Mridha rightfully said, “Every morning, the sun rises with endless possibilities that give you endless opportunities to begin again and to create a brand-new life.” The dawn of each day brings new hope of setting new goals in life and striving towards achieving them. Anyone can be successful by their own measure in a variety of ways.
However, the road the success is never straight. You have to meander through various curveballs, and though when exploring success strategies in life, consistency isn’t necessarily the most attractive or appealing of subjects, consistency is what ultimately helps many reach their destination. Therefore, I have rounded 10 ways to help you adopt a consistent approach in any walk of life.
- Being Well Prepared
You can’t devise your entire war strategy on the battlefield. If you don’t prepare beforehand, you are preparing for failure as the oft-used adage goes. If you already have a layout of how you want things to progress, then you won’t waste unnecessary time. While we’re aware that events rarely go as planned, you are more likely get more of the things done on time, and it will help improve your accountability by leaving no room for excuses. You get to measure progress and create expectation by planning effectively.
- One Thing at a Time
Rome wasn’t built in a day. Achieving your goals will take some time as well, but slow and steady often wins the race. Some people assume that doing extensive work in a few days will make them successful, but it never seems to work out that way, and you can be left demotivated or feeling burnt out. I often feel tired and overwhelmed just looking at lists of goals some of my graduates have – I typically advise them to cut it back and make it a far smaller list, and then to really work on one at a time as much as is possible. Eat one apple at a time, rather than taking a small bite out of 15 different apples at a time.
Moreover, once you start to see positive results, you will notice a sudden surge in your motivation as well.
- Regular Subconscious Reminders
You’ll be surprised to learn about the benefits of subconscious tracking. Thinking about your goals, setting little reminders on your phone screen, computer screen, and visiting the places where you want to be, will subconsciously wire your mind to stay focused. It’s like exercising your focus. It will also motivate you to give it your all and make mindful decisions that will allow you to succeed in the future.
- Accountability
There are different ways to go about this one. You could either hold yourself accountable or seek external support and assign this task to others. Having someone check up on you to make sure that you stay committed to your daily or weekly tasks will surely help you to complete them. Furthermore, you could also keep reminding yourself about the negative outcomes of not timely working towards your goals.
- It’s Okay to Make Mistakes
We’re all humans, and everyone makes mistakes. No one’s perfect. While it’s important to keep an eye on your regular progress, it’s also important not to overdo it and leave some room for human error. Do not necessarily aim for perfection.
When you’re working towards something new, you’re bound to make mistakes, but the important thing is not to let them demotivate you but to learn from your mistakes and rise above them.
- Willpower Preservation
Research suggests that all humans have limited reserves of willpower that are utilised on a regular basis. However, your willpower is easily drained. Even resisting your favourite chocolate while on a diet can empty your willpower reserves.
Therefore, understanding how your willpower works and then navigating through it will give you successful outcomes. Furthermore, making things easier for yourself by planning ahead also improves your willpower, increasing like this over time.
Read this article for more on this subject: 7 Evidence Based Ways To Boost Your Willpower.
- Live in the Present
In the age of stress and anxiety, it’s becoming increasingly hard to live in the present. People end up thinking about the future, and it makes them anxious and nervous. This anxiety cripples them from performing their present-day tasks to achieve their goals. Some people even go ahead to imagine the worst outcomes and become so intimidated by the fear of failure that they never even begin. So when working on your goals in life, act upon them in the present, get into the flow of it, enjoy it and you are likely to become much more beneficially consistent as a result.
- Say No to Procrastination
There’s no doubt that intelligent people think a lot, and this thinking often turns into overthinking and over planning that causes unnecessary delays. Furthermore, if they are perfectionists, they may end up kissing their goals goodbye because perfectionists want to make sure that everything is absolutely perfect, resulting in excessive delays.
On the other hand, people who don’t overthink and are willing to improve their results over time, rather than perfecting them in one go, have greater chances of becoming successful. Procrastination erodes consistency.
Read this article for more on this: How to Stop procrastinating Today.
- Physical Activity
Some people call it exercise, but I’m referring to it as physical activity. Most people hear the term exercise, and they immediately think about the gym or working out with heavy weights. Regular physical activities such as walking, running, playing any physical sport like football or basketball, dancing, yoga; all count as exercise.
But how does exercise help with consistency? Several studies suggest that exercise helps with forming regular habits that give rise to consistency. Furthermore, regular exercise is also an excellent way to uplift your mood as it increases endorphin production in your body.
- Remember to Have Fun
It’s common knowledge that you will get better results when doing what you love. Doing things by force will only lead to frustration, and you’ll never give it your all. However, if you enjoy doing something, you could see yourself doing it in the long run, and you’ll do it more passionately and consistently.
However, not everything is fun, and there are some hard pills one just has to swallow to get closer to their goal. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make them fun. On the contrary, it’s pretty easy to turn a boring task into an interesting one, making it much easier to get it done.
Final Word
Consistency is the key to many forms of success in life, but it can become difficult to stay focused on your goal or consistent with your aim. Therefore, I hope these tips will put you on the right path to staying consistent.
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Has this piqued your interest in this field? Then have a read of these pages:
1. Would you like a satisfying and meaningful career as a hypnotherapist helping others? Are you a hypnotherapist looking for stimulating and career enhancing continued professional development and advanced studes? Explore the pages of this website.
Adam Eason’s Anglo European training college.
2. Are you a hypnotherapist looking to fulfil your ambitions or advance your career?
Hypnotherapist Mentoring with Adam Eason.
Likewise, if you’d like to learn more about self-hypnosis, understand the evidence based principles of it from a scientific perspective and learn how to apply it to many areas of your life while having fun and in a safe environment and have the opportunity to test everything you learn, then come and join me for my one day seminar which does all that and more, have a read here: The Science of Self-Hypnosis Seminar. Alternatively, go grab a copy of my Science of self-hypnosis book.
