If you’re anything like me, struggling with consistency is frustrating. It used to drive me crazy that I could want a goal so desperately, establish a clear plan to get there and then continue to make excuses and let myself off the hook.
Not long ago I implemented a new strategy that is helping me a ton with my consistency in every area of my life, and I want to share it with you!
Here’s how this came up for me most recently.
I wanted to take a new course but I was feeling nervous that I might pay for the course and not do the work. Have you ever been in that situation?
It’s happened to me a number of times – I start out strong, I’m dialed in, paying attention and doing the work, but I fizzle out. Often, I run into a roadblock which I use to justify stepping back or slowing down and before you know it, I’m totally disengaged.
There’s no doubt that this pattern is behind a lot of the times when I’m struggling with consistency.
So, though I really wanted to take the course and I knew it would benefit me, my pattern of inconsistency was holding me back.
I asked myself a lot of questions to process the decision and potentially create a new pattern. One of the most helpful ones was:
What if I established a feedback loop?
You might be wondering what a feedback loop is. Instead of defining it, I’ll give you an example.
It’s incredibly valuable to use past experiences, especially past unsuccessful experiences, to improve future strategy. So, I let my “unsuccessful” past experiences with courses improve my future experiences with courses, which begins with a closer look at my past patterns.
Often, I’d begin consuming the course materials, begin implementing, get stuck on some aspect of implementation and then dis-engage.
What if I established and committed to a feedback loop that addresses where I’ve withdrawn before:
- Consume resources
- Implement
- Submit questions or challenges
- Act on feedback
I asked myself if I was willing to keep a list of all my questions and challenges and submit them, within the course, once every week. Not only was I willing, that felt like a really valuable strategy.
Then, I asked myself if I was willing to act on the answers to the questions within 72 hours. That felt more than reasonable.
That became my feedback loop and I joined the course.
As I worked through this process, I recognized why so many people are still struggling with inconsistency. I could see, for example, that my husband Chris didn’t complete his 75Hard in large part because he didn’t have a feedback loop in place.
There was no accountability. No plan for setbacks or frustrations. No strategy for making sure a slip doesn’t become a slide.
Inside The Consistency Course I have a module around customizing your own feedback loop for different goals in your life. It’s not enough to know what a feedback loop is – we have to personalize them and practice them.
If you want to hear more about this, take a listen to episode 1102 of the Primal Potential podcast or, better yet, join me in The Consistency Course and create your own feedback loops in there!