Consistency Over Intensity
Long-term consistency beats short term intensity — Bruce Lee.
In an article published in June 2015– “10 skills that are hard to learn but pay off forever”, Weforum.org listed 10 common skills that we don’t really pay attention to but are extremely difficult to master. In this list, “Consistency” came out as number 5.
How hard it is to master ‘being consistent’ is not really talked about enough. You could have a good business idea, a well structured strategy for marketing your idea, and a good amount of capital for that business, but if consistency Is missing from the formula then there is no way you can achieve long term progress.
We know how to be consistent, but we never see the importance of practicing consistency for a particular goal. We always take the intensity route whenever we want to achieve a goal.
What is Intensity?
The philosophy of consistency over intensity says that it’s better to start with a routine that is easy, practical, and enjoyable. Why? Because the easier and more enjoyable the activity, the more likely you are to stick to it over the long run.
We always see quotes that encourage us to love “the journey” and not the destination, they may all sound cliché, but most of them are true.
Many of us start-off with an “intense” mindset. We are looking for instant results or at least a tiny little sign of work-in-progress. Most times we may not get it, we may not see any sign of progress, not even after several tries. Most times we give up.
When we were younger, we were always told to- do our school assignments whenever we came back from school, revise our school work during the weekends, go to religious gatherings on certain days, or simply take out the trash on certain days. We naturally know how to do something repeatedly. So what makes it so hard now? Why do we approach things with the “intense” mindset?
Pressure. We pressure ourselves way too much. I’m not in any position to scold or judge, I am also guilty of this and I have learnt to separate consistency from intensity in a hard way. So I guess I am in a position to give advice.
We need pressure to grow, no lies, but letting the pressure get to us can make us look for only quick routes to achieving our goals, and that is dangerous.
Knowing how to block the noise around us that makes us inconsistent can help us battle with pressure. (I wrote an article on ‘blocking the noise’ a few weeks ago, click here to check it out).
The consistency route is the hardest route to follow but always remember
Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.
-Dwayne Johnson
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