Why This Cliche Should Be Considered Novel
We’ve all heard the saying, “Consistency is Key”, but why do we not take it to heart? It is because of the fact that it has become so cliche that we don’t consider its meaning to be important anymore, or did we collectively not give the act of consistency a chance in the first place?
Oftentimes, it’s hard to place the blame on our lack of consistently accomplishing an activity and failing to reap its outcome, when we have so many other things we can blame our inconsistencies on.
For example, when it comes to reaching our personal fitness goals as moms, our busy lifestyles can be an easy scapegoat for our shortcomings, when in fact, it was the inconsistencies that could have been prevented, that ultimately led us to our fitness failures. However, these outcomes can change if we look at the art of consistency from a different vantage point.
In our modern-day society, we tend to be drawn to, and romanticize, the positive feelings of fitness outcomes more than the process of achieving them. We are often guilty of not necessarily envisioning ourselves having achieved our goals, as this requires a strong internal belief that we know we’re capable of accomplishing them, and a certainty that we know we will. Instead, we are overwhelmed by the emotions of what we want to feel when we’ve done this and flirt with the idea that it may happen.
Somewhere along the way, our consistency with the habits we need to make in order to produce results aren’t developed, and we end up falling short of our goals. What we fail to realize, is that had we been more laser-focused on the process versus the outcome of reaching our goals, this would’ve been the stronger driver of our consistency.
So why do we flirt with the idea that we may reach our fitness goals as moms versus having the internal confidence in knowing we will? It is human nature to have a fear of failure, especially when we try to pursue things we’ve previously failed. Subconsciously, we may contribute to acts of self-sabotage in talking ourselves out of giving our best, to avoid the failure we fear we may have with an activity in which we lack confidence.
This lack of confidence may stem from our experiences with things in which we set unrealistic expectations. If we’ve fallen short of reaching these impractical expectations for ourselves, we get discouraged and therefore, feed into our lack of confidence even further.
Fitness is a common area in which this happens, as we get caught up in the game of comparison, especially as females, taking only aesthetic notes of how we differ from someone else and not considering what makes up someone’s overall “wellness”.
We often don’t consider that we are all on our separate fitness journeys, each starting and beginning at different points, and every point being in constant flux. We fail to remember that regardless of the starting point, as long as we continue to make consistent strides in a positive direction, we will eventually end up at our destination if we don’t stop making these positive strides. Fixated on the results and not the process, we fall short of reaching our goals.
By being so laser-focused on the destination and not the journey, we often try and rush the process without realizing where we even started in the first place. While we impatiently rush through the process of reaching our goals, we can’t appreciate the accomplishments we’ve made along the way…those small moments that allow us to build confidence within ourselves and help us see what we’re truly capable of.
Our restless speed doesn’t allow us to be present, authentic and to focus on those moments of consistent acts that we practiced, knowing they were silently catapulting us towards our goals. By rushing, we missed the “key” to consistency.
With our over-fixation on the destination we want to reach with our fitness goals, we may also confuse consistent acts we should be making with ones that are intermittent and forceful instead. We might think practicing our movements with intensity may equate to doing them consistently, when we fail to realize that consistency trumps intensity over time.
As Bruce Lee once said, “Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity.” We risk burning ourselves out, unable to practice consistency and having our efforts result in fitness failures.
“Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity.”
Bruce Lee
As busy Moms, it can be easy to lose sight of our “Why”…the reason our soul is driven to pursue our fitness goals in the first place. We often put ourselves last on the priority list and don’t take the time to remember why our fitness goals are critical for us to achieve.
We can sometimes get lost in our monotonous practices or even feeling pressured to do fitness activities that we’re no longer engaged with, when we don’t have a sense of purpose for why we’re doing them. We may feel pressured to do something active if we suffer from insecurity or body issues, as justification that we’re doing something about them, but not feeling connected to why it is that we’re doing them in the first place. When we lose our purpose, we also lose our consistency.
If we really take the time to look at all of these areas that serve as possible fitness shortcomings for us mothers, we can see that a lack of consistency is to blame. This is where we need to challenge ourselves to rethink our approach to consistency and treat it in a novel way.
In lieu of thinking about consistency as being a word that is attached to a cliche saying that seems overused, lacks originality and has a negative connotation, we need to appreciate consistency as being the fundamental part of our fitness routine in order to reach our goals.
As mothers, we need to take the time to find and focus on the reasons why we are pursuing our fitness goals in the first place. We need to look at our smaller, sequential steps in our fitness journey that are leading us in a positive direction, with greater appreciation. We need to find ways to be present during the process and not so fixated on the destination.
Once we start doing these things, we can find a greater sense of self confidence with the progress that we’re making and learn to compare ourselves with ourselves, and not against others. And, when we are able to look at our personal fitness destinations from this vantage point, we will do so with confidence, knowing it will be reached with consistency.
