Consistency key to development

Kanisa George

Consistency has always been, and I believe will continue to be, synonymously linked to progress and development. Maintaining not just the courage to continue after faltering or slowing down but also the sheer willpower to stick to the task is the only sure way to progress your life along its unique trajectory.

Confucius once said, “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." It it does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.

Faced with this reality, many of us get right into it, come hell or high water. Of course, we’re often confronted by apprehension and can sometimes temporarily lose our will to continue, but we endure, feeling our way along the unbeaten path. Regardless of how we choose to approach it, the fact will always remain that consistency is the one thing that matters the most when pursuing our dreams.

It is, however, not the only thing that matters.

Evolution, or the process of formation and development, isn’t comprehensively studied by only analysing the results. True comprehension comes from a systematic evaluation of the journey, the procedures undertaken, our patterns, susceptibility to change and adaptability.

Herein lies the magic.

Delve into your journey, from where you started to how far you’ve come, and the steps you took to get there. This comprehensive view can be a powerful tool for supporting consistency. The secret weapon behind putting one foot in front of the other lies in measuring your progress. Each step forward is a testament to your growth and a source of inspiration and accomplishment.

A study by Professor Benjamin Harkin of the University of Sheffield discovered that if you’re trying to achieve your goal, the more often you monitor your progress and physically record it, the greater the likelihood you’ll succeed.

When we think of progress, we either cast our eyes on how far we’ve come or consider how much further we have to go. Or maybe both. Of the two, we’re often guilty of placing far too much emphasis on the latter.

In essence, we define success by analysing our current position against our ideal: what we’ve achieved vs. what we want to accomplish in the end.

This way of thinking is natural and is inevitably linked to the desire to assiduously go after our goals.

When we evaluate our progress by fixating on the 'gaps' rather than the 'gains', we can easily become demotivated and overly critical of ourselves. This negative mindset can hinder our progress and lead to feelings of dissatisfaction.

Omar Itani writes that we often define success by sizing up where we are today against the ideal we had set out for ourselves a year ago or even a month ago. We compare what we’ve already achieved with what we want to accomplish.

From this angle, we inadvertently choose to observe our progress tainted by expectations and dissatisfaction. The gap vs gain paradigm isn’t even up for proper consideration as our thought process is, without effort, dominated by the former and becomes the yardstick by which we understand our progress. Itani believes that as you continue to focus on that gap, you’ll only be able to see how far away you still are, and thus, you’ll continue to feel dissatisfied with your efforts.

Feelings of dissatisfaction, coupled with burnout and stressors outside of our control, don’t exactly inspire confidence. This undermines our efforts to stay consistent and pushes us off course.

The very act of assessing our progress can sometimes, ironically, hurt it and take us further away from our goals. This then begs the question, how do we effectively measure progress?

Author and strategic coach Dan Sullivan believes this starts by reworking our relationship with where you started, where you currently are and the ideal point. His solution envisions changing how we think by first changing how we look at things. Instead of casting our gaze forward, we should focus on the path we’ve illuminated behind.

In other words, “the way to measure your progress is backward against where you started, not against your ideal.”

Sullivan believes that the backward distance, also known as the “gain,” is far more inspiring, motivational, and rewarding than what lies ahead in “the gap.” Refocusing our minds to evaluate where we’ve been and what we’ve achieved naturally causes us to consider the obstacles we’ve overcome, our ability to self-motivate, and, importantly, our rate of consistency.

Another amazing point raised in support of this approach is that the mercurial nature of change always impacts our goals, meaning our goals and dreams shift as we evolve and develop.

It is very possible that as you change and develop, the proverbial goalpost may move several times.

Itani sums it up like this: what you choose to pursue will constantly elude you because your ideal is a natural moving target, and based on your measurement method, you may become a rabbit chasing an elusive carrot.

He warns against the desire to measure where we are now with where we want to be. “If you fall for the trap of measuring your current self against your future self, you’ll never be satisfied with where you are today because there will always be a gap to fill.”

By evaluating the gain, not the gap, one can appreciate the beauty in progress and remain energised to keep pressing forward. However, this approach isn’t always readily maintained, as we are often tempted to compare where we are to where we want to be and to compare ourselves to others.

Psychologists strongly advise that we must get into the habit of training our brain to see the glass half full rather than empty. It’s easy to get carried away with the wave of stimuli we’re constantly exposed to via social media, our interactions and simple everyday occurrences. So, making not just a mental note of your progress but a tangible representation acts as positive reinforcement and a tool that can provide accurate data on your progress because the only real way to track the process is by measuring it.

Your journey and how well you manage it are directly linked to how you navigate, understand and quantify your progress. But at the end of it all, it’s ultimately your attitude that determines your altitude, or rather how far you can progress. Cultivate a positive attitude, grounded in self-compassion and emotional regulation. This will not only encourage you but also make you resilient in the face of challenges. Then, you’ll see how quickly your monstrous gains will be worth their weight in gold.