‘We live in a world of novelty, of chasing shiny new toys,’ says Robin Sharma, the Canadian leadership and personal growth guru who’s advised everyone from Jon Bon Jovi to NASA while selling more than 25m books. ‘We start the novel we always wanted to write, but we stop before we get any consistency and traction, and we start becoming an influencer. We start a diet, then we change to another before the first has any traction.’
Sharma may be trendy (Taylor Swift says he transformed her life) but he’s not swayed by trends. In fact, his current mission sounds old school in the extreme: ‘I’m encouraging people to see boring as sexy,’ he tells me. ‘Consistent is cool.’
It doesn’t sound exactly sexy. But in an age of fast-moving, expendable trends, it does feel counter-cultural. Rebellious even. ‘I’m encouraging people to not chase every shiny new toy or trend. Small, daily, seemingly insignificant improvements around the same thing, when done consistently over time, lead to stunning results.’
His new project, The Deep Magic Of Daily Consistency, is an audio mentoring programme that blends audiobook and podcast and nails this flag to the wind. Whatever your current goal – be it revising for your GCSEs, trying to get fit or maintaining a successful marriage – consistency, argues Sharma, is the key.
What is consistency?
That said, in Sharma’s eyes, consistency is not only about smashing your goals. It’s deeper than that. ‘When we say we’re going to have a family dinner, then break our promise, we’re not consistent,’ he explains. ‘And when we are not consistent, we don’t feel good about ourselves. Consistency is about integrity, right? We all have a set of core values, and one of the great sources of happiness is being true to ourselves.’
We’re ready to sign on, but how?
30-day challenges
‘30-day consistency challenges are very powerful,’ says Sharma, who describes consistency as a muscle you have to exercise in order to build up. ‘So give yourself a 30-day sugar detox, or 30 days offline, or at least without social media.’ After all, a period of 30 days is both doable and a timeframe in which you can really start to build that muscle.
Work together
Many of the self-help programmes that work the best, including Alcoholics Anonymous, understand the power of belonging to a group, says Sharma.
So if you want to practise a new habit consistently, try the same. You could join a club that practises and promotes that habit, such as Park Run. Alternatively, find someone who will act as your ‘consistency partner’. ‘That could be your romantic partner, your best friend, even your child,’ says Sharma. ‘Saying, “Every Saturday morning, we’re going to spend an hour over a cup of good tea, and we’re going to talk about, encourage each other, and hold each other accountable for where we wanted to be consistent this week, and we're going to grow together…” that can be very powerful.’
Write it down
Sharma also recommends keeping a journal in which you record your aims, and your consistent work towards them. ‘Writing deepens commitment,’ he explains. ‘If we write about the people we want to become, we have much more willpower and clarity on becoming that person.’
Break it down
‘How do you write a book?’ asks Sharma. ‘One paragraph at a time. How do you run a marathon? One step at a time. My parents just celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary. How do you do that? One conversation at a time… Often, we almost self-sabotage because we’re too ambitious.’ So if you want to be a runner, not just for a week but for long term, don’t make a marathon your goal. Make jogging around the block daily the aim instead. If you want to celebrate your golden wedding anniversary, celebrate today with your partner first. And then be consistent in this micro, manageable habit.
Reframe failure
Failure is only failure when you choose to see it as such, suggests Sharma. ‘Often, we try to be consistent with our health, or with our positive thinking, or with our family time, or with work routines, then we hit the first stumbling block and wave the white towel of surrender. We say to ourselves: “I’m not the kind of person who can be consistent.” But a great company is built by turning failure into fuel, and a great human life is built by exploiting failure.’ So don’t give up.
The Deep Magic Of Daily Consistency is available via Bolindaoriginals.com
