Stop Slacking, Start Producing
Consistency. It’s a huge element to being successful in anything that you do, but can be one of the biggest challenges to master.
It’s something that you have to work at with concentrated effort in order to make it a part of your life.
Starting something new is fun and exciting. Often the first day, week, or month of a new adventure can be totally exhilarating. But what happens after the exhilaration wears off?
This is something that I just faced with writing these blogs. The idea of writing a blog, and eventually a book, totally captivated my world for a few weeks.
Even though I enjoy writing, after a few weeks I found myself making excuses for not keeping up with it. Yes, I have been busy- very busy, but I definitely could have made time in my day to write.
What I love most about writing is looking at the finished product. Once the writing is complete, I am thrilled with the feeling of accomplishment.
On the other hand…
Writing, editing, being creative, is a lot of work for me and can be quite time-consuming. Therefore I have been pushing it to the side of my schedule. It’s been in my thoughts every day, but I just didn’t make it a priority.
The key to consistency is making sure that you are being consistent with the things that are crucial to your life’s purpose.
During the last few weeks that I have neglected writing, I realized how important it is to me and essential to what I want to achieve in life. This is of course, why I’m writing this.
I could have ignored this issue that I’ve been facing with writing, but I know that I’m not the only person that has ever had this experience.
What is it that you were excited about at one time in your life, you were actually moving forward and making progress on it, then for one reason or another, you neglected it?
The most important question to ask yourself about it is: is it essential to achieving my purpose in life?
I knew the answer to my question. Yes, I need to be writing. As often as possible. Every day.
Consistency is a massive part of being great at anything.
Most of the people that have done something profound with their lives didn’t achieve it because they did it once or twice. They worked at it over and over until they finally rose to the top.
Olympic athletes don’t win medals because they were born with talent. Neither do singers make the top charts, authors write a bestseller, or preachers reach the masses, without putting in consistent effort.
One hit wonders and overnight sensations are more of a myth than anything else.
Generally, these “one-hit wonders” have spent large amounts of time and effort honing their skill or talent, and then at some point are finally noticed by the right person/people.
Even if somebody goes from obscurity to fame in one day, to remain successful they have to have a lifestyle of consistency.
Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and went from being unknown to leading 3,000 people to Jesus and pioneering the first church. Obscurity to fame in a day.
Did that fame really come about in a day? Or did he have 3 years of character development in Jesus’ earthly ministry?
Apostle Peter didn’t fail in the ministry after being featured in charisma magazine because he had spent years being groomed for success.
As a minister, my task is developing Godly character, getting into God’s presence, and developing the gifts God has given me. If I don’t put effort into these areas of my life on a daily basis, then I am limiting my success to a low level.
Forget about overnight success. Start planning your days in a manner that will force you to the top whether people like it or not.
This is actually possible by doing the right things on a regular basis.
This goes beyond just your personal life. Inconsistency ruins businesses all the time. This is why many franchises succeed- their goal is to continually provide the same result, product, or experience for their customers.
It’s commonly agreed upon that people don’t go to Mcdonalds because they have the best burger. People go there because they know exactly what they will experience.
If you went to Mcdonalds tomorrow and they were serving lasagna, and then the next day they were serving sushi, it wouldn’t be long before you stopped going.
If it is important in business, then clearly it would be important in your personal life. It’s even important to be consistent in ministry.
If I changed my foundational doctrines every month, people would get so confused as to what they should believe. They would either be totally unfruitful or leave the church — and rightfully so.
I realized how important writing is to my goals in life. I’m making a conscious effort to set a pattern in my daily life to write every day.
If there is something in your life that you know you should be doing but have been neglecting, don’t wait to make the necessary changes.
