Personal Development: Consistency is BORRRRRRRRING!!
Author: ophelia | Category: Law of Attraction, Personal DevelopmentThat’s right – consistency is boring and dull and uneventful that is why few ever do it.
A few years ago I asked myself a question and I want you to ask yourself too: What do I do every day not because I have to but because I want to? OK work – I have to do that; eat, sleep, kids all part of my have to; the list went on 100 have to’s barely any want to’s. Why was I only doing things that I had when I felt I had no choice? I tried to make a list of all the things to do daily, all the things that would help me get further – lasted a few days that was it…
Till I realized that consistency is utterly boring. Who wants to get up and do the same things every single day – over and over again? Very predictable – like an accountant with glasses (sorry to all accountants- that’s just the image that comes up for me when I think of boring). People want excitement in their lives! The thought of what could happen next moment leaves you in suspense…living on the edge is just amazing. Falling off the edge, not so amazing…
Here is the problem – everyone wants the results of consistent behavior without the boring, predictable habit of consistent behavior. Have you ever seen the cartoon - I’ll tell you which one when I remember – with ANTS and the Grasshopper. The ants were busy every day working - carrying one grain at a time. Storing away for winter. The grasshopper wanted to have fun – thought it was boring. Months pass and the grasshopper has his fun and soon it’s winter. The ants are full of food, Grasshopper is dying of hunger.
How does this apply to your life?
MAKE A CHOICE. Can you live with a boring, dull, habit that will lead you to a better, happier, healthy, richer life or do you want to play the grasshopper – realizing today is winter and there is no food? Is it worth it to pick up a boring habit like good eating, working out, investing, CHANGING YOUR LIFE…or you could just keep going the way things are right now? After all the dent in your couch needs company…
Tags: are habits effective, consistency, creating habits, habit, healthy and happy
April 5th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
Some consistency is good – we all need a bit of routine im our lives, it is human nature! Choice and responsibility however are the tools to move you from consistency to choice which is a very important part of life and essential to our growth. I agree that habits should be our focus – these are born from our deep rooted beliefs that keep us repeating the same behaviour again and again so making the time to face up to the self beliefs and make different choices has a profound effect on the continuation of our journey. Thanks for the article.
April 5th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
I have recently started doing the “absolutely have to” things on my to-do list first thing every morning so that I get rid of the “have to” mentality straight away.
I believe that life should be FUN, so I do what I WANT to do for a living, but even inside the shell of my work-related tasks, I still get the highest priority things done first.
That way, even if the rest of the day gets wasted, at least I won’t feel like a total slug…
April 6th, 2007 at 3:00 am
Yes fun! – that should definately be a focus. Everyone seems to take life so seriously these days! Fun should be bumped to the top of our priority list!
April 6th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
I don’t think you have to be boring to be consistent. It’s just like someone choosing the scenic route to work once in a while, just to get a change of scenery. Most people don’t. They go the same way every single day, and never complain about it because it works. But that is by choice, not necessity.
There are many ways in which to achieve the same end and each step that needs to be repeated can be done in a unique way. For example, my morning meditation can happen in any place in the house, or even outside. I can do it alone, or with my family. Just like I can choose the method for every single step throuh my day.
Just a thought….
-Renee
WEAR the Law of Attraction
http://www.manifes-t.com
April 6th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Thanks to everyone who weighed in on this.
One of the best tips I ever got was to make my list of 5 essential tasks for the next day and then in the morning do the things I DON’T want to do first…when I follow this tip consistently (
)it works wonders in my life.
Renee – love your t-shirts! We believe in wearing affirmations too (check out our Prosperity Wear at http://www.cafepress.com/enjoyprosperity)…
You are right – there are a million ways to keep things interesting if/when you are doing the same things every day, which is pretty crucial to accomplishing long-term visions…eg. I like varying my workouts to include everything from walking to swimming to rock-climbing, just to keep myself active and happy.
I expect Ophelia was directing this to people who DON’T want to do those daily taks like exercise or meditate or balance their finances, etc…because they think it’s boring.
If we can turn that around to consistency = POWER & RESULTS then our whole world can change. Amazingly and helpfully, consistency pays off really quickly as well as in the long-term.
Thanks again!
Shauna
October 16th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Some results and commentary on consistency:
http://breathingprosperity.com/blog/consistency-vs-moderation
xox
Shauna