Guest Blog: Sarah Stewart
Mastering Consistency: Key to success in business and life
All it takes is consistency?
Consistency is a bit of a buzzword at the moment. Consistency is the key to success, so it seems. The business owner who consistently shows up for themselves, their business and their life… will achieve their goals.
The issue is however that life is not consistent. If you’re a parent, carer or have health issues in addition to running your business; it can be a challenge (and I tick all of these boxes!!).
Why consistency matters in achieving goals
A great place to start is, what is consistency? Consistency, when thinking about a person, refers to maintaining a steady behaviour or attitude over time. This principle can also be applied to businesses, such as consistently treating customers with the same level of care or striving for a consistent level of success (When I think of consistency, I automatically jump to thoughts of viscosity, and have flashbacks to my time in the lab creating emulsions for my pharmaceutical sciences PhD - but that’s not the topic of this post!).
Despite it being a challenge, there are indeed many areas of your life where improving your consistency can be impactful.
This might look like getting consistent with nutrition and exercise, journaling or meditating. Putting our business hats on, this might look like being consistent with marketing, or consistently showing up for customers. I found a study that reports that brand consistency reliably contributes to revenue growth (source); some motivation for us!
We can be more efficient and productive when we are consistent - think about how we might master a skill and the continuous improvement that goes hand in hand with this. I know that the more consistent I am with the marketing for my business, it gets easier and is less time consuming; but it’s taken time and practice to get here.
Consistency is safe and predictable, which can help reduce uncertainty. I know that I thrive in a higher structure schedule, and consistency, such as with planning or with routines, helps with this massively.
For business owners, our customers will be expecting a consistent experience with our products or services. It helps build trust in our brand and can encourage customers to keep coming back.
Challenges with consistency
If we know it matters, why do we struggle with consistency?
Many people believe that consistency means giving 100% every day. It’s a perfectionist mindset, which can hinder progress and contribute to procrastination. We don’t do the thing, unless we can do it perfectly. However, I think it can be helpful to challenge these thoughts.
I love this quote from Jim Kwik: “On the days you have only 40%, and you give 40%. You gave 100%.”
I can relate wholeheartedly to this. Some days I can and do give more, and other days I have less. Do what you can with the energy and resources that you have.
A great question to consider is, “What does consistency mean to you?”. Laura Vanderkam, an American author in the time management space, has shared in her book, Tranquility by Tuesday, that “three times a week is a habit”. This is a really helpful reframe. We don’t have to do something every day for it to ‘count’.
When life is challenging, unexpected events or disruptions can shake our routines and hamper our consistency. I believe that self compassion is important. That’s not to let ourselves off the hook, but instead think how we might respond with kindness. Rather than berating ourselves for a lapse in consistency, self compassion encourages us to acknowledge the difficulty of the situation, learn from it, and recommit to our goals.
How to improve your consistency
As a time management coach, I’ve lots of suggestions for how to improve your consistency, such as:
- Bringing some awareness to your ways of working
- Understand your why
- Prioritisation on what really matters
- Using systems and processes
- The benefits of a routine, and
- Accountability
Read on to find out more.
Awareness
As with most things, bringing some awareness to your ways of working can be insightful.
Perhaps there are some tasks that you are very consistent with, and others you find tougher. What trends can you uncover? Do you have evidence to show that you are able to be consistent? And can you apply this mindset to other areas, knowing that you can be consistent?
My Time Audit workbook is a great place to start reflecting on your time, download your free copy here.
Understand your why
What is the reason that you are trying to be consistent with something? Get really clear on why it matters to you.
Is the thing you are trying to be consistent with in alignment with your core values and future vision? If you’re trying to force yourself to be consistent with something, and failing, then it might be worthwhile exploring.
And be compassionate with yourself whilst you try to embed new habits. Research suggests that it can take from 18 days to 254 days to form a new habit, with an average of 66 days (source).
Prioritisation
Prioritisation allows us to focus on what really matters. What are the most important tasks that will help you achieve your professional or personal goals? Understanding this will allow you to devote more time to these activities.
In a work capacity, this might look like collecting and analysing your business metrics. For example, where are the majority of your customers coming from? I discovered that a number of my customers are finding me via Google search, and the efforts that I’ve put into my website SEO has been worthwhile. This gives me motivation to continue to be consistent with my blogging, and as such I prioritise this business task.
Using systems and processes
You also want to make it as easy as possible for you to stay consistent with the thing. How can you streamline your workflows? How can you leverage technology to make things more easeful?
If this is social media for your business, you might consider batch creating content and scheduling in advance.
If we think about the customer experience, have you documented your processes, perhaps on-boarding a new customer, or how you approach repeat customers? This will ensure that each customer has the same experience when working with you.
Perhaps this looks like having a bank of email templates that can be leveraged for customer queries, or using tools such as Calendly for customer appointments and reminders.
Systems promote consistency.
The benefits of a routine
A thoughtful routine can help with consistency by providing structure and predictability. Over time, the repeated habits will become second nature and it’s easier to maintain consistency. Routines can also reduce decision fatigue, and by reducing the mental load of some activities throughout the day we can conserve energy for the more important tasks.
Did you know that on average we can spend 3 hours a day on four decisions… deciding what to wear, what to eat, what to watch and what time to go to bed! (source)
Accountability
Lastly, another way that you can improve your consistency is to enlist the help of an accountability partner. Whether it’s a friend, a coach or a VA, having someone to help hold you accountable can be a game changer. There was a research study that found that you have a 65% chance of completing a goal if you tell someone else what you are committing to. And if you have specific check-ins with an accountability partner, your chance of success increases to 95% (source).
Conclusion
Consistency proves vital for success, whether that’s in our personal life or business. Despite life's uncertainties, recognising that effort matters, even in varying degrees, can be helpful. Knowing that consistency doesn't demand daily perfection but rather habitual engagement can be a useful reframe too. I’m an advocate of mindfulness and self-compassion, which can be the key to sustaining momentum when things get tough.
Implementing strategies like prioritisation, systems, routines, and accountability enhances consistency. By fostering awareness, understanding motivations, and seeking support, we can bolster our ability to stay on course. Consistency isn't just a tool for achieving goals; it's a practical path to business growth.
If you’d like more time management strategies, direct to your inbox. You can sign up for my weekly newsletter here.
And please do let us know in the comments what you are aiming to improve your consistency with, or join in the conversation on Instagram @smallbizbigchat.
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👋 Hi! I’m Sarah, Glasgow-based conscious time management coach.
🐶 I’m a single mum of two: my 14 year old gaming-obsessed son and my sassy 13 year old daughter. We also share our home with Evie, our cavachon.
🏢 I’m an ex-pharmacist, and even have a PhD in pharmaceutical science! I worked for 14 years in project management roles in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently as Senior Director of Global Program Management.
🤍 People and organisations work with me as they want to feel more in control of their time, to procrastinate less, to be more organised on a daily basis and more present to fully focus whilst at work (and at play). Through my workshops and individual support I have now helped hundreds of people improve their relationship with time.
🕰️ My passion for making the best use of our time and for being present in each moment comes from losing my mum to cancer as a teenager; I have an acute awareness that our limited time is precious - both at work and at home.
🚐 I use the time I have gained outside of work to have adventures in my campervan and to volunteer at the local hospice where I run mindfulness meditations for the out-patient visitors.
Written by Sarah Stewart.
Find out more about Sarah’s work here.
Photos by Anna Laska.