It’s no big secret that the most successful people are often the most consistent with whatever they’re working on. One only needs to look to prolific writers like Stephen King who writes anywhere from 1000-3500 words every day (depending on who online you ask) to see what consistency can yield. Caitlin Clark, the Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball star, also is a great example of the power of consistency. Last night, she broke Stephan Curry’s record for most 3-point baskets scored in a single season. Check out her off-season workout here to see what she does to accomplish so much. James Clear writes all about the power of habit in his book Atomic Habits. Habit and consistency, no doubt, go hand and hand.
But what about grace?
It’s easy enough to want to make something a consistent habit, but life does have a way of presenting obstacles. There are those who hold the hard line and say “If you want it bad enough, you’ll find a way.” I don’t disagree with that statement. In fact, in many ways I believe it’s true. I’m sure more than once I’ve uttered those words myself. Here’s the thing though, sometimes you set out to achieve great things only to have the unexpected jump in your way. Just because you’ve set your intention, that doesn’t mean that people you love won’t die, bills won’t come due, influenza and other maladies will magically disappear from your life for all time. Then, if you’re also a mom/dad/parent pretty much all bets are off.
Unpredictability is about the only thing you CAN consistently count on with kids.
So you’ve fallen off track
Maybe you’ve set your intention. Maybe you’ve written down your goals. Perhaps everything went swimmingly for a few days, a few weeks or a few months, but then inevitably life sent you on an unexpected detour. This is where grace comes in. You’ve decided what you want. You’ve been working towards you goal. Whether it’s making more money, losing weight, writing more, running more, worrying less, eating less junk food, being kinder, getting smarter….whatever it is, you can get knocked off track. In fact, you WILL get knocked off track.
But succeeding isn’t about achieving perfect, unceasing consistency. It’s about doing the best you can (whatever that is at the moment), and when you inevitably get knocked down getting back up.
Beating yourself up doesn’t achieve anything
Instead of getting down on yourself for falling away from your consistency, give yourself some grace – consistently.
The quicker you’re able to say to yourself, “Okay, that didn’t go as planned. That’s okay. What now?” the quicker you’ll be able to get back on track toward whatever it is you’re hoping to achieve. A few quick steps to resetting and restarting include:
- Revisiting the “Why” of your goal. Take some time to write down why you want to achieve your goal or close your eyes and imagine what your life will look like when that goal is reality. Envisioning the end outcome is a powerful way to attract it to you.
- If you’ve set a SMART goal, take it out and look at it. Are there pieces that need to be adjusted? If you haven’t set a SMART goal – do so now. If you have no idea what a SMART goal is, learn more about it here.
- Reflect on the parts of your plan that have been working. When you can identify your strengths, you’ll be better able to apply those abilities to the areas that may need more work.
Give yourself the grace to get back to it
Remember, no matter how far you fall off track, treat yourself with the same kindness, love and grace as you would your children, friends, family. If you’re just starting out towards a new goal or rethinking a long held one, read more about that here.
What are you working toward? What stands in your way? How have you reset? I’d love to hear.