Little by little, a little becomes a lot. This mantra runs through me, an ultrarunner, as fluidly as blood flows. Step by step, those steps make a mile. Mile by mile, those miles make a marathon. Event by event, opportunity by opportunity, choice by choice — these little things combine to make a lifestyle that matters to me.
As a holistic performance coach, I work with all kinds of clients. Every one of them wants to build, grow, or deepen something important in their life. Many times, it’s a well-being goal that is new to them — or one they’ve attempted time and time again. And so often I hear, “I just want to be consistent.” Sound familiar?
Consistency is the act of showing up again and again. I like to think of it as an ongoing choice to not give up on ourselves, to keep moving forward, even if we have to walk or take a good long pause to look around or catch our breath. Consistency is like laying bricks, one by one, to build the version of ourselves that we envision.
This doesn’t just happen. To help my clients — and myself — stick with what matters, I’ve adapted the following strategies from Addie Bracy, CMPC, a seasoned ultrarunner and certified mental-performance consultant. These are your cheat codes; know them, apply them, and watch your current self align with who you really are.
3 Steps to Cultivate Consistency
1) Practice deliberately. Make your goal matter. Be intentional about what you are doing and focus on how you are doing it. Training for a marathon? Establish the purpose of each run — easy run, speed workout, or endurance effort. Strength training during the week? Establish why each session matters.
Do what you can to create a ritual instead of just moving through a routine. And consider taking on that ritual with others who share your values, to deepen your relationship to your goals. This might be a group run with like-minded friends to tackle the most difficult workout of the week.
2) Mix it up. Boredom can kill consistency. I’ve seen it in my own training and in the lives of my clients. Variety helps us move forward in a stimulated, enjoyable way.
You don’t have to do the same thing every day, in the same place, to remain consistent. Consider exploring a new environment, taking a different class, or connecting with new people. Take up a form of cross-training, walk on a trail, do a home workout, or join a group class.
A stimulated mind helps us feel connected to the process. Humans are creative beings. Purposefully creating variety helps us feel more alive.
3) Get strategic. This is your chance to be real with yourself and consider how things like your training cadence, your work and play, and your movement rituals might be integrated into your life in a way that makes sense.
Consistency for you may be doing something once a week, or it may be a daily practice.
A good strategy is solution-oriented. It also allows you to challenge all-or-nothing or black-and-white thinking.
Identify your biggest challenges — what gets in the way of movement — and be willing to creatively work with and through those.
Mindfulness Challenge
My high school creative-writing teacher used to say, “Nothing changes if nothing changes.” She also taught me to think in the third person to bypass creative barriers. Let’s use both of those concepts to creatively shape how we want to show up.
Consider the following questions as you create consistency in your fitness life.
- Who is the person I desire to become?
- What is that person regularly doing?
- What can that person do right now in a small yet meaningful way?
- What might get in that person’s way?
- How does that person work with that challenge?
- Who can help that person with that challenge?
Make a small commitment for the upcoming month that is deliberate and strategic, and that offers room for variety. And then watch your version of consistency come alive.
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