It is not your fault if you are suffering from inconsistent results in your career or your personal life. On a rational level we all know what needs to be done.
We set goals and might even have a clear plan of action.
So what’s happening, why aren’t you getting the results and outcomes you so much deserve and desire?
Understanding how are brain works will definitely bring light into this situation. Our brain doesn’t like change. Change is perceived as risky and in addition takes energy, which goes against our brain’s two high priority functions: keep us secure and save energy. What does this really mean? This tells a couple of things you need to hear:
- In order to ”override” this natural function of your brain to keep you safe and stuck where you are, you need to have a WHY, a dream or a vision that is bigger than any fears or obstacles.
So question #1 for yourself is: What is your BIG why, dream or vision?
The bigger the change the bigger the brain’s resistance.
Question #2 to ask yourself is: What is the smallest change/ step in the right direction that I can take?
- Your brain has created habits as a way of using less energy and creating predictability. These habits can be seen as the ”highways” in the brain. In order to create new ”highways” you need to repeat the new pattern enough times so that it becomes a habit for your brain.
Question #3 to ask yourself is: Are you interested or are you committed to do the what you identified in the previous question day in and day out?
If you’re interested you will cease when faced with obstacles. If you’re committed you’ll do whatever it takes to keep yourself in track and repeat the new behavior.
- Consistency is about practice. The more you exercise it the easier it becomes. Since your brain has a strong reward system you need to link/ connect the new practice with a reward.
Question #4 for you is: Which reward will you award yourself every time you show consistency and do what you committed to do?
- Being our brain, as we stated, a habit creating organ it is more important that you do that change that you decided to implement in your leadership or your life even if the intensity is sometimes less. The habit is by far more important than the intensity. If you as a leader for instance decide you need more time for reflection and decide to increase that reflection time with 10% (remember, small incremental changes instead of huge ones at once)
If this means in your life 5 min a day and you some days have no time at all to reflect, it is better to set a specific time and start reflecting at least for 2 min. If you do this every day it will become easier to increase to 3, 4, 5 and eventually 10 minutes or 15 or 30.
Go ahead and try this and with time and practice you will master consistency and with it will come all the positive effects that it will bring into your leadership and life. There are a couple of additional important questions to ask yourself, and we would be more than happy to share them with you given your personal specific situation.
We help our clients master whatever it is they need to master as leaders and individuals. This is just one example of how we do it. If you have a challenge you would finally like to resolve, book an exploratory meeting with us and we will be happy to assist you.