Consistency — Lionesses of Africa

by Brigette Mashile

Consistency: acting or done in the same way over time, especially so as to be fair or accurate – Google

Every guru in every speciality will tell you that you can do anything you set your mind to, and you will excel if you are consistent in it.  If you have a strategy and you follow it religiously, over time it becomes easier and you start seeing the results of your efforts. The simplest example is gym.  A lot of posts on social media on the subject of weight loss talk about being consistent. Even if the exercise is 5 minutes long, as long as you are consistent daily, at some point you start seeing a difference.

This should be easy for most people, because we all have something we do in the same way every day. We are trained to do some ‘normal’ thing from a certain age all our lives. We all have been taught and trained to wake up, wash our bodies, eat, and stay awake for at least 12 hours a day. Well, I do hope we all have had this. From this we are taught about school, where more discipline is instilled; exams, church, Christmas etc. We all learn some type of consistency through life, so much that it becomes second nature to us.

And yet, I struggle. I wake up each day, I brush my teeth first, then have coffee, and then decide what to do that day. These three are the same each day of my life, without fail nor pain I show up for them. They are second nature, they are not debatable, you cannot convince me otherwise. Now tell me why I cannot fit in a daily 15 minutes on the treadmill in there? Tell me why I cannot convert this energy to the social media strategy outlined for me. Why is it that I can drink coffee every 365 day of the year but a work-out is harder?

I am aware of the results my becoming consistent in working out or posting regularly on social media will be. I can visualize them, but on day 4 I am bored. Simply not excited nor inspired to continue. It is as though my brain can take three takes of the same behaviour, we need to change it at the fourth try. Repetitive means mundane to me, every day at the same time sounds boring to me. My brain needs a challenge, anything that is easy and familiar doesn’t push me. This sounds like I do not do easy and peaceful processes.

So, what I end up doing is posting at different times on social media, also posting random things that don’t really tell a story. This chaos doesn’t bother me, but I know it will achieve more if I organized it better. Hey, the Instagram account is doing better, maybe I will get the TikTok there eventually. On the gym, I do it when I remember or when the back ache pushes me to the elliptical machine. These times are so random, I will never see a difference over time. So much so I have given up on losing weight and I now concentrate on growing strength.

This consistency issue stretches into how I eat, how I blog, how I make orders. I eat a different meal every day of the year, I submit blogs when Natalie reminds me, and I make dresses according to how I feel that day.  Look, this could be a creative personality issue, or I just have a lot to do in a day. Or maybe there is a routine, one which I haven’t picked up.  I am still here; the business is still here, and I haven’t gained weight in 5 years! There is something I am doing right? NO?

Consistency requires planning, goals, strategy and most important discipline. Athletes will tell you this is how they win world cups; even top fashion designers will tell you this is how they run their businesses. Most processes and policies in organizations are there to keep the business consistent by doing the same things, which have been proven to work. Over time your repetitive, routine and familiar performances will result in your goals. Good luck to you becoming more consistent.