Category Archives: Consistency

Short term results come from intensity

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“Short term results come from intensity. Long term results come from consistency.”

—Shane Parish, author of Clear Thinking

Image from Unsplash by Brett Jordan

How often do you find yourself using intensity and consistency to produce the results you desire?

If you are like many people, you probably use a balance between the two to create an optimal strategy for achievement, benefiting from areas of steady progress with the occasional acceleration provided by intense effort.

In football, we can see numerous examples where extensive practice and running routine plays consistently can be the source of many wins over the course of a season.

In recent years the “Tush Push” has been used particularly by the Philadelphia Eagles to make short yardage for first down conversions or to score a touchdown. In spite of many defenders knowing the play, this intense effort of the center, quarterback, and running backs pushing from behind is particularly effective.

EXERCISE:

In what ways do you use intensity and consistency to achieve your personal and professional objectives?

How could you apply the “Tush Push” concept in your own world to score more points with the help of others behind you?

“In the long term, you can’t get better results than your consistency.”

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“In the long term, you can’t get better results than your consistency.”

—Shane Parrish, author of Clear Thinking

Image from Unsplash by Jacob Rice

During the summer Olympics I joyfully watched with amazement the levels of excellence everywhere.

Two athletes that stood out for me were Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky.

One of the highlights for me was watching Katie swim the 1,500 meters, which she won by 10 seconds over the silver medalist. Katie now owns the twenty fastest times ever recorded and has swum over 23,000 miles in her lifetime, which is almost the circumference of the earth!

EXERCISE:

Where in your life have you been the most consistent in your efforts?

How has your dedication and stick-to-it-ness served you well and supported your success over the years?

Where might some added consistency serve you best in the days and years ahead?

Talent and potential mean nothing if you can’t

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“Talent and potential mean nothing if you can’t consistently do things when you don’t feel like doing them.”

—Shane Parish, Athens, Georgia based guitarist

Image from Unsplash by Rachel Sanner

Consistency is a superpower.

Putting in your steps when the weather is mild and sunny is easy. Doing so when the skies are grey and there is a chilly wind in your face is another story.

What percent of your talent and potential have you realized?

How does it correlate with your attitude and willingness to push through the challenging “I don’t want to’s” in your life?

What habits have you developed that channel the discipline to push through the resistance that often blocks your way?

EXERCISE:

Consider reading and applying the many nuggets of wisdom from James Clear’s book Atomic Habits. Over 120,000 5- and 4-star reviews are on to something!

Don’t aim for consistently heroic efforts

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“Don’t aim for consistently heroic efforts. Aim for being heroic at consistency.”

—Brad Stulberg, Performance Coach

Image of a boy shooting an arrow

Image from Unsplash by Niklas Tidbury

We all get excited when we observe heroic acts in the world. These efforts almost always require extraordinary levels of physical, mental, and emotional effort. Unfortunately, as Brad points out, we all know that these efforts are not sustainable.

Although not as sexy, consistency provides a compounding effect that is both sustainable and sticky. These habitual actions often result in excellence in virtually any life domain you choose.

EXERCISE:

Select a single area of your life where you will make the heroic effort to be more consistent. Feel free to reply to this post and share the area you selected.