Consistency pt. 2

Consistency has never been one of my strengths. I have a tendency to get easily distracted or I let life get in the way and lose momentum with whatever it was I wanted to get consistent with. I always feel like I’m back to square one. Or even further back, to zero. 

But that’s the part of consistency I recently had a revelation about. 

I know I’m in the majority in feeling like once consistency has gone by the wayside, so has all of the progress that I made in that time. 

That’s not true at all! 

Being consistent is about more than the desired outcome of the thing we’re pursuing. It’s about what happens to our brains during that time of pursuit. 

Believe it or not, we have a tremendous amount of power over our brains. That may feel like a flat out lie to anyone who struggles with anxiety, but it’s true. We have the power to slowly, incrementally make changes to our neural pathways. If you’ve heard of neuroplasticity, that’s what I’m talking about. 

For example, anyone who has played a sport with me or been around me while I’m trying to figure something out knows I talk to myself. The most common phrase is, “Get it together, Natalie!” Which isn’t as harsh as I could be, but also isn’t as encouraging as it could be. So I’ve started changing that self-talk to something more positive like, “You’ve got this, Natalie!”

I’m rewiring my brain to reflexively think first to be kind and encouraging to myself, not tough on myself. 

So, now to explain how this relates to consistency…

First, it’s important to know that our brains DO NOT like change. They don’t like anything for which they don’t already have a frame of reference. It’s part of our healthy anxiety response. So any time you want to start something new, whether it’s a new routine, a new fitness program, or a new hobby, your brain is going to RESIST. It is going to come up with reasons why you should stop because it’s uncomfortable.

So when you want to start waking up earlier, writing every day, going on a daily walk, cooking dinner every night, etc. just know that your brain is going to tell you “this is too hard.” It’s doing that because the consistent activity is new and uncomfortable. 

But life happens and even though you’ve been consistent for a few days, a few weeks, or longer, something might happen and your shiny new routine goes by the wayside. And the worst enabler in letting this happen was your brain. 

Does that mean you made no progress during the time when you were consistent? Not at all. And here are two big reasons why:

1. Back to the brain: you have laid the foundation (neural pathways) for these habits and routines to become ingrained. They are no longer foreign to your brain. And while there may have been some discomfort at first, this new habit/activity isn’t brand new anymore. “It’s like riding a bike.” Riding a bike the second time is always easier than the first because you know you can do it. 
2. Life isn’t a video game. You don’t lose all of your progress and go back to the beginning. If you did something as small as swapped chips for veggies as an afternoon snack, your body won’t instantly deplete of all the extra nutrients you gave it on the previous days. If you were reading every night before bed, your brain still reaped the rewards of that activity (and your sleep probably improved too).

What all of this means is that consistency makes a difference, even if consistency is inconsistent and it looks different for all of us on any given day.

So this week’s 1% Better challenge is: what can you be more consistent with? It can be small – flossing your teeth, making your bed, stretching. And how can you be gentle with yourself in your overall lifelong pursuit of consistency? 

With gratitude, 

Natalie