Getting consistent is EVERYTHING when it comes to doing anything well. This is especially true for deeply personal projects, like losing weight, getting fit or ditching the fatigue and finally getting your ‘happy back on’.

The truth is that we have all been there: 

🏁 Started a health project with all guns blazing, only for things to fizzle out a few weeks in. 

🏁 Or maybe you started that weight loss program, but once the numbers stopped telling you great news you just wanted to give up? 

🏁 You have your eye on a huge and quite complex project like getting out of fatigue but feel totally overwhelmed and don’t know where to even start!

If you have ever struggled with overwhelm, motivation or staying focused and consistent in your health creation projects for long enough to get real and lasting results, then you need to learn how to play the consistency game!

Learning how to play the consistency game

If getting consistent is such a powerful tool for success, then why aren’t we all doing it? Good question! Let’s take a look… 

The single biggest reason why most of us struggle to get consistent is that we focus on the goal and only the goal as a measure of success. I like to call this ‘chasing shiny objects’. 

We are lured into a health project because we want the end goal. We want: 

😊 That slim, fit, trim body. 

😊 To feel sexy and gorgeous and beautiful. 

😊 To have easy all-day energy so we can enjoy life to the max.

But here is what we tell ourselves: I am successful when…

• I get to my goal weight
• I can run a marathon
• I have the kind of energy that lasts from dawn till dusk without fail

Sound familiar?! Using this ‘single point focus’ type of approach creates enormous problems when it comes to success in your health project because the goal is only one moment in time. 

Yes, you will feel great when you get to your goal, but that feeling is momentary. And what about all those moments along the way? All the days, weeks and months when you were telling yourself, ‘I’m not there yet’….. in other words, focusing on what you DON’T HAVE, rather than on what you DO have, where you are making progress, and when you are following the plan and staying on track and showing up every single day.

The trick is to shift your focus from the goal to the journey itself so that you can feel grateful and excited every single day for the journey you are on, instead of only at the very end.

Figure out your why

The next thing most of us don’t really nail down is the big ‘WHY?’— the core reasons why you want to do your health project. 

Here are a few questions to help you figure out your why:

🦋 What will it cost me in my health and my life if I don’t get this sorted out?

🦋 What will become possible for me if I achieve my goal?

🦋 What will I now be able to do that I couldn’t do before?

🦋 How will this change my life?

I suggest you take 5-10 minutes to jot down some answers to these questions. 

It is important that your goal is big enough and inspiring enough to keep you moving forward in your energy creation journey. But if you can combine it with why you want this goal, it becomes a vision for your life and your future. And you’ll have natural motivation and inspiration for your journey.

Commit to yourself

Now that you are clear about your why and know that focusing on the journey itself is the real focus and not the shiny object at the end let’s talk about the C-word: Commitment!!

Showing up regularly

Being consistent means showing up regularly, be that every day, once a week, or whatever it will take to make your health project a huge success. But so often we start with good intentions that after a while, fade away and we stop taking action. 

So first of all, you need to be realistic about the regular commitment your project will take, and plan that into your day.

So for example, if you are doing the beautiful work of fatigue recovery, you will need to plan time into your day, every day, for beautiful self-care, your nutrition, time for rest and relaxation, and time for deep sleep. These are just some of the many pieces that it takes to recover your energy levels.

Feelings vs commitment

Next, let’s talk about being committed and when those ‘I don’t feel like it today’ feelings show up. We need to understand that feelings come and go. They are momentary, and they don’t last very long. They don’t always align with your decision to fix your health and your commitment to follow a particular plan of action. 

Human nature 101: we will do more to avoid pain than to gain pleasure. So it is natural that the pain, the momentary discomfort of having to get up to go to the gym, or the pain of having to say no to a glass of wine, or the pain of having to get yourself to bed at 10pm, can be huge distractions.

This is where your focus and your big ‘why’ really matters, and your commitment to becoming the very best version of you. In the moment, you have to access your ‘inner parent’ who has your very best interests at heart, who wants you to succeed and who is holding the bigger vision for your health and your life.  

Know your non-negotiables

Non-negotiables are the things you will do every day, no matter what. 

I recommend that you make a list of these. Write them out and put this list somewhere you can see it quickly so that it is easy for you to stay with it and build the new habits, routines and rituals that it will take to get consistent in your health project. 

Once you have this list super clear, it will be much easier to get consistent, because you will know exactly what to focus on. 

Examples of non-negotiables might be:

• I will get up at the same time every day and go for a 10 min walk
• I will plan my meals every Sunday for the following week
• I will write in my gratitude diary for 10 minutes every morning.

Set yourself up for success in 2021

So now you know far more about how to get consistent in your health creation projects this year. I know that being consistent means you are far more likely to succeed, but I also hope that you will enjoy your projects far more using this approach.

Here is a handy checklist:

🦋 Focus on the journey, not the outcome!

🦋 The goal matters because it is the ‘direction of travel’ but what is far more important is mapping out how you will get there

🦋 Get super clear on your big WHY!!

🦋 Set out your daily non-negotiables

🦋 Commit to becoming the very best version of you!

Before you start your health projects in 2021, slow down and take maybe 30 mins to just think through the questions and guidance in this blog. I promise you it will help you play the consistency game with success. 

Happy 2021!!

Margriet