How to be more Consistent and Effective at what you want to achieve

How often do you wish that you could stay motivated and inspired on a very consistent basis?

How can you keep your passion, inspiration, motivation and excitement from waning?

How can you be persistent and relentless in the pursuit of your goals without falling into the same old trap of the frenzied activity followed by a burnout and long periods of distraction, binge watching Netflix which seems rampant these days or something similar?

Does this sound like anything that you have been experiencing?

Consistency is something that I still battle with when I’m looking at following stuff which deals with contributing to my long-term important but not urgent objectives. It is all too easy to fall off the bandwagon from time to time. The trick is to dust oneself and get back on as soon as possible.

I get inspired, all excited and fired up, jot my ideas onto paper, start off strong with a bang, put in intensive activity, to eventually peter off as I go along and the ever present distractions claw their way back in. After a period of pause, usually filled with a lot of meditation and mindless distraction of the mundane routine of life, I get myself back on track.

How? By reviewing my why and where I am at from time to time. I re-hash my priorities using the ever useful Eisenhower Matrix.

• Focus on the why, again and again

Much as I would love to say that my WHY is extremely powerful, impacting and influencing me, pulling me along each and every day, I have to admit that I need to refocus on it from time to time. As I grow and evolve, things change and I need to re-anchor myself.

I have to remind myself that this is not a rehearsal and in each moment I am either moving towards or away from my objectives.

Here are a few ideas and tips that have been of help to me and can be of use to you:

• Stay in the awareness zone as much as possible

Moving forward requires skills and anybody with an average Intelligence Quotient can learn the skills. What are the skills that you’ll still need to master to get you where you want? What are effectively the obstacles to developing them further? We can come up with a number of seemingly valid reasons which are often nothing more than excuses, but the crux of the matter is that we haven’t yet decided to move ahead on that front. Awareness and intentional focus will help you create more effective strategies to progress.

• Find someone that you can model

This is something my mentor used to insist upon again and again. There is no need to reinvent that wheel. Find somebody who has achieved what you’re looking for, or similar, get close to them, pick their brains and model their skills, techniques and mindset. A word of caution here, you will have to earn your place amongst the leaders. Unless you’re really fortunate, you will have to get yourself noticed by them through your initiatives and yes, often sheer hard work. Until then, feed off biographies and autobiographies of successful people through the ages.

• Watch your self talk

I cannot stress the importance of this enough. Our mind is constantly chattering and we have to find ways of becoming mindful of our self talk. Is it supportive and empowering or are you still pulling yourself down consistently? This also includes your spoken words. How do you normally express yourself? Try jotting down your thoughts in a Thought Diary and see what comes up.

• Get in some movement and watch what you eat

I am not a fanatic for exercise, but I do love to move this body which is the only abode that I have. It is important to look after it, so that it may serve us well. The body was designed for movement as well as rest — all at the right time. Ensure that you’re getting enough movement and oxygen and blasting off all the toxins created by your lifestyle and stress. Nourish and hydrate yourself to the best of your abilities.

• Upgrade your social circle

When you’re working on things that relate to your life purpose and vision, it is time to start sifting through everything that is fluff, creates unnecessary noise and distraction, taking you away from your focus. This also includes relationships. Do a quick mental review of the people around you. Think of how you feel when you are around them.

Is there anybody who is not supportive? In the energy exchange equation are you getting drained by their attitude? At what stage are you in the dynamics of the relationship?

Getting the right environment will do wonders for your progress, fulfilment and peace of mind. Remember, you’re not responsible for other people, everybody has their own path. Get selective about who truly deserves your time and energy. Start with yourself.

• A sense of urgency

A sense of urgency regarding your life purpose keeps you in check. It keeps you going forward, whatever the speed and stops you from wasting and frittering away too much time and energy on unnecessary things. This is, of course, related to your Why.

• Balance

This here, is the eternal tightrope. Life is all about balance and harmony, adjustments and tweaks, keeping things aligned. Life is cyclical. After every period of intense activity, there has to be a period of rest. Night follows day, the seasons roll around, things peak and wane, life and death are part of the parcel. What happens in between is the balance that we strive to keep as we endeavour to grow and evolve. Perfection is not the goal, improvement is, growth is, evolution is, betterment is, more is.

We can read all the books we want, attend all the best seminars around, gain all the knowledge but in the end we have to execute, act and make it effective. we have to assimilate, absorb and then externalise the knowledge.

We have to become that knowledge.

We have to reflect it in our day to day living and interactions.

Thoughts?