Deepening Our Relationship with Consistency: A Simple Puzzle

creatingconfidentl
Jan 21
4 min read

I’ve talked about the concept of consistency many times on the blog - find links to these alluring posts at the bottom. As many creative coaches, personal trainers, and life coaches will tell you - to make change or see results you have to be consistent. We are told that consistency is showing up everyday and doing the thing, that it’s foundational for habit formation. We pull in all of these tools to help us be consistent like accountability coaching, external and internal motivations, and schedules to name a few. I have been stuck on the concept of consistency for a few days now, so where better to get it all out than her on the blog with all of you?

I want to break down some of the myths we’ve curated around the notion of consistency and then share with you my personal breakdown of what consistency is actually made up of.

Myth: Consistency has to happen everyday to be effective

This is the cornerstone of the hustle culture narrative and we need to dismantle it. Consistency does not need to be daily to be powerful. Being consistent in your creativity might look like writing on the weekends, or doing a drop in art class once a week, or attending an open mic night once a month. Whatever your creative ambition, hobby, or goal, choosing your own timing that works in the context of your life and rhythm will be the most effective choice for you. Burnout is real, and it exists because of myths like this one. If daily doesn’t work for you then it is not effective to you, your practice, or your creativity (in this context) or any other desire or goal you want to build. Schedules are not effective, routines are (this is a separate conversation - follow the link)

Myth: Consistency has to be high volume to be meaningful

This is the greatest perpetrator of burnout. This myth makes us believe that unless we go all in we might as well not show up at all. There is power and meaning in the bare minimum, in starting small. Not to be confused with keeping yourself small - that’s not the same thing. In starting on a smaller scale of volume, we build trust with ourselves to show up and do the thing. This might look like a bare minimum of a stick figure doodle in your sketchbook, meanwhile the target is to fill one page, and the maximum amount of work you can output is a two page spread. This not only keeps you in a place of delight, but the bare minimum is always achievable 100%, and often leads to your target zone. The cap placed at the end ensures you stay out of the burnout zone. The Unpublished podcast run by Amie McNee and James Winestock as well as @inspiredtowrite on instagram are innovators in this space of the bare minimum in keeping consistency.

Myth: Consistency is a singular principle of self development

This idea that consistency exists on its own in a vacuum is ridiculous. Consistency is not a singular principle. It is, as the blog title expounds, a puzzle made up of a few pieces. Consistency is not simply showing up; it is made up of what you are showing up for, how you are showing up, nad why you are showing up. Without understanding each of these pieces it will be very difficult to be consistent. There will be more to come on the subject of puzzling out consistency below.

Myth: Consistency requires motivation and accountability to be successful

I’m not saying motivation and accountability are not great tools - they are. However, tying them to the success of our consistency doesn’t sit right with me, especially in the context of our creativity. Both of these tools are often used as external components - an outside accountability partner, reward based motivation systems. As positive and community building as these external factors can be, I find they start from a place of fear, shame, or people pleasing tendencies. Yes there is internal or intrinsic motivation, but that is a different conversation altogether. You can be successful in your consistency without these external tools and it doesn’t mean you’re alone in the process or that you have to isolate yourself or hide your practice.

Consistency is a puzzle made up of a what, hows, and whys.

I said what I said. Back to Myth number three- consistency is not a singular thing. It is a puzzle. Picture this - consistency is the frame of the puzzle, the edges that holds it together, but without the center pieces it’s an empty square that will fall apart and become nothing very quickly, even though you showed up and put the framing pieces together. Let’s explore!

Devotion - Be consistent in / to your devotion

Being consistent becomes meaningful when we devote our time, effort, energy, our full selves to the action to the thing - whether that’s creativity, movement, or wellness. What we are devoted to becomes the reason for wanting to show up. Devotion implies a willingness to honour ourselves, serve our practice; a non-negotiable.

Grace - Be consistent by grace; smallness is enough

This goes back to the bare minimum principle - how we can show up consistently. Allow yourself to keep your volume small. Whatever you have to give to your devotion is enough. That may not look the same everyday and that is the power of consistency at work - not in volume but in grace.

Grit - Be consistent in pulling yourself through; motivation waxes and wanes

The principle of grit is to stay the course even when motivation is flagging, when life is happening, when it’s easier to walk away. Obstacles will pop up on our journeys, in our practice, but we can choose to show up anyway, to make that choice when it isn’t our first choice.

Self discipline - Be consistent through trust in yourself

Self discipline is the why; why consistency becomes a successful practice. No one is watching me, no one is shaming me for the bare minimum, not one else is in my practice with me. It comes down to me each and every time I choose to show up. Knowing you can rely on yourself to see it through, to do the thing, is trust building at its pinnacle.