How consistency can change your life in just 31 days...
...and why it doesn't have to be heroic efforts
What is it that you REALLY want to achieve in life?
You'll have something. We all do. But perhaps it's lurking in the back of your mind, buried deep because you're too shy (or scared) to say it out loud. Even to yourself.
We dare not speak our secret ambitions, usually because they feel too big a mountain to climb. The momentum to getting started is too hard, it feels like you're trying to roll a 1000lb boulder up Everest.
So, you remain static. Or even worse, you're hap-hazardly making half-hearted attempts in the dark, then getting annoyed, frustrated and de-motivated.
But what if I was to tell you there was a secret sauce that made achieving your unrequited goal a real possibility?
You just need to start…
Despite the mildly "clickbait-esque" question above, I'm not actually going to tell you anything you probably didn't already know.
I'm not claiming to be Mystic Meg here.
But, sometimes we need to hear things repeatedly before they actually land, and even how these ideas are framed can drastically alter how we resonate with them.
One of the biggest blockers for me personally to obtaining my secret desire (I'll tell you what it is shortly) is my perpetual battle with perfectionism.
I want everything right before I start. The right conditions, the right plan, the right people around me etc. In part I do this because failure is uncomfortable for me.
I am the epitome of a sore loser and I don't mind admitting it.
I don't want to look stupid (or worse like an a*shole) so perfectionist tendencies give me that protection.
But this is SOOOOOOO unhelpful.
It breeds procrastination and prevents you from iterating on the fly (which is actually how you get your best results - by failing quickly and learning).
I'm pretty sure I'm not alone on this issue. Especially with us gals. The amount of women I know that WON'T go for promotion because they don't think they're ready, despite their beyond obvious capabilities.
Perfectionism kills more dreams than failure ever will.
If you've got that big goal, that secret ambition, that burning desire… procrastination through perfectionism is not the way to achieve it.
So, how do we get over this first hurdle?
You just need to start.
It's as simple and as hard as that. You just need to start moving the needle in the direction you want to go.
The hidden obstacle here is we make it waaaay more complicated than we need to. This DOES NOT need to be some gigantic leap. It can be the world's tiniest step. Some ideas:
Telling yourself out loud what it is you desire.
Writing down your goal somewhere you will see it EVERYDAY.
Telling your closest loved ones the aim.
Declaring it on social media (this isn't a tiny step btw… this is actually pretty big but some people like this immediate accountability).
I don't care what you do. JUST DO SOMETHING RIGHT NOW.
You then need to build…
Once you've taken that first tiny step, you've already started building a very precious resource known as momentum.
Momentum is the secret sauce to winning (but it needs to be in the right direction - otherwise it's less of the boulder going up Everest and more like Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark).
We build momentum by creating consistency of action.
It's no good going full Usain Bolt in one week, then not doing anything for six months. Momentum won't build that way and you're back to your hap-hazard attempts at progress.
I promised to tell you my secret ambition.
(Sadly for readers who know me this is not a dramatic reveal so I apologise for the unnecessary build up of tension).
My secret ambition is to leave my full-time career and be a fully fledged entrepreneur running my own business.
And that business is all about writing. Specifically copywriting.
I freakin' love writing. It's the one part of my day-job I don't actively despise. But getting to a point where I was comfortable telling people that's what I wanted to do as a new career was super scary.
And that's the thing about our uttermost secret desires, they are usually so personal to us that revealing them and then chasing them makes us feel incredibly vulnerable.
Because what if it doesn't work out? What if we fail?
But the question I ask you,
"Is it worse to have tried and failed or to live with the pain of regret of never having had a go?"
I realised it was going to be far worse if in 20 years time I was still doing a job I hated because I was too scared to put myself out there.
I imagine that will be the same for you if you really think about it, regardless of what the goal or ambition is.
This is why after we've taken that initial tiny step, we need to keep building.
Just like the first step, our building process doesn't have to be scary. We don't have to see the whole path ahead of us to move forward.
Think about how you drive at night.
You can't see the whole road ahead of you. You know the destination you're trying to get to, but most of the journey is in complete darkness. You've only got your headlights illuminating a short part of the road ahead. And that's more than enough for you to make quick progress.
That's how you need to see the journey towards that goal or desire.
Instead of the "perfectionist" approach of trying to spot all the potholes, roadblocks and dead ends before you've even gotten off the driveway; you adjust as you go. Just like you would if you were driving.
Keep it consistent
As we build our momentum, keeping it consistent is the most important part of the process.
You need to be making active progress regularly, even if it is just an inch a day.
This is where the "Every Day in May" challenge needs presenting to you.
The headline for this article is:
“How consistency can change your life in just 31 days”
And that's what the "Every Day In May" challenge is all about. For 31 days straight you need to make a promise TO YOURSELF about what daily action you're going to do to move you that much closer to that secret goal.
It's super simple:
Pick ONE daily action.
It needs to be complete-able within a SHORT timeframe (I recommend the 15-30 minute mark, do not go for anything over 30 minutes and if 15 minutes seems too long, then go for 5 minutes).
It needs to be SIMPLE. (You're not trying to cure cancer here - you're trying to build up an action that is repeatable).
It has to be MEASURABLE in some way (i.e., ten push ups, a 15 minute walk, 5 minutes of meditation, a 250 word LinkedIn post).
It needs to RELATE to your overall goal in some way (i.e., if your goal is run a marathon, a 15-minute walk would probably be far more beneficial than 15 minutes of watching a Netflix documentary on running…)
Find a way to be ACCOUNTABLE (i.e., tell your partner, your family, your friends or declare it on social media and track it via the same method - a WhatsApp message to your mate or a photo of your Strava workout on Insta).
The point of this process is to build consistent momentum in the direction you want to travel.
Consistency compounds and it either compounds in a positive or negative way.
How would you feel if you nailed 31 days straight of taking action on your dreams?
How would your mindset be different?
How capable would you feel?
Don't underestimate the power of small wins. Ticking off something small, every day for 31 days would be a HUGE achievement.
You would be demonstrating to yourself:
Your level of commitment to the goal.
Your ability to be disciplined.
How small steps lead to big change.
I'm going to be doing this challenge myself in what I call my:
"Write Every Day in May" challenge.
Each day in May I'll be sharing a small piece of writing on LinkedIn (if you want to see this then go follow me on LinkedIn - just search for Jessica Pearcey and you'll see my grinning mug).
The purpose of this for me is to get used to producing writing consistently and at high volume, whilst learning what does and doesn't work quickly.
If you're feeling this challenge and want to take part I'd love for you to tag me in your posts and updates - either on LinkedIn or Instagram (my Instagram handle is @jess_pearcey) and use the #everydayinmay.
Stop being scared to start.
Make a commitment to yourself to get that boulder moving and to keep it moving.