Why do some people reach their goals while others give up just days in? The answer is not luck, talent, or even motivation. It is perseverance! The ability to show up every single day, in regardless how you feel or what’s going on around you. Let’s be honest – staying consistent is hard and that’s why you must train yourself to do it, especially on the days you don’t feel like it.
On this journey I will help you break through your excuses, overcome resistance and build unshakable mindset rooted in self-discipline.
The difference between people who succeed while others quit so quickly is not because they are smarter, more gifted or luckier. The real difference lies in one thing: CONSISTENCY.
THE MYTH OF INSPIRATION
You can’t rely on temporary enthusiasm because it fades after a few days, but a quiet persistent discipline that doesn’t rely on emotions. It is the strength to keep going when you are tired, bored, unmotivated.
I used to think inspiration is what kept me going, but inspiration is like the wind. It comes fast and leaves even faster. Most people begin with the excitement, they write down goals but a few days later busy life happens and then they start to postpone. When you act consistently, you being to build a new trust in yourself. Every time you overcome laziness, every time you keep a promise to yourself you are approving “I am someone I can rely on”. And when you can trust yourself, everything changes.
REPETITION CREATES RESULTS
At first your efforts may seem unnoticed, but think of a snowball rolling down the mountain. With every push it grows. Consistency is that PUSH. Without it nothing moves. You might do the right thing today and see no change, but do it again tomorrow and the next day and again the week after. One day you wake up and you realize you are no longer who you used to be – you have changed. Consistency is a just like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it becomes. You don’t have to start big, start small – 5 min of reading, 10min of journaling, 15min in the gym. You are not doing it because you enjoy it, you are doing it because this is WHO YOU WANT TO BECOME. Every small, consistent act sends a message to your brain – this is who I am now. And when you repeat it enough, your brain will believe it and you will start to act from that new identity.
DON’T CONFUSE CONSISTENCY WITH PERFECTION
Consistency is about showing up. Perfection is about never failing. One builds momentum, the other builds shame. You will miss a day, you will fall short. What matter is how fast you come back. If you have ever told yourself “I’ll do it tomorrow”, or “I just need a bit more time to prepare”, you are not alone. Procrastination is not laziness, it is your brain’s defense mechanism when faced with fear, uncertainty or overwhelmed. Perfectionism, though it may sound noble, if often the most deceptive mask procrastination wears.
THE INVISIBLE ENEMY: RESISTANCE
The invisible enemy that always shows up the moment you decide to begin – RESISTANCE. The moment you decide to start – whether it’s exercising, writing, or pursuing any goal – it shows up: a quiet, persistent voice that whispers, “You can do it later… maybe tomorrow.” You need to know that resistance never truly goes away. It feeds on delay, lack of clarity and fear. The more vague your goals are the the easier is for resistance to take over. So, the first step to beat the resistance is not trying harder, rather making your goals more clearer, more specific. Instead of saying “I need to write a chapter today.”, say “I will write 200 words from 9:00 to 10:00.” The more specific you are, the less space resistance has to thrive. Next, lower the starting treshold. While you are thinking about your goal (planning, analyzing) – resistance is much stronger, but it starts to loose power the moment you take action. Resistance also loves to deceive you, makes you believe you have to wait until you feel ready, but you will never feel fully ready. Think about all the times you delayed starting – you were tired, distracted, not in the mood. But once you finally began, you often kept going longer than you expected. This is the breakthrough moment!
If you would like to learn more on how to overcome RESISTANCE read here.
WHAT TO DO WHEN NOTHING FEELS LIKE IT’S WORKING
On these days resistance will feel like a heavy fog over your thoughts. On those days hold to a single rule – just DON’T QUIT! You may do less than usual, complete only part of the task but your presence is alredy a victory. Every time you take even one small step through resistance you reinforce INNER TRUST. Don’t wait for a day without resistance, rather become a person resistance can’t break. The more you act despite it, the closer you move toward reel freedom – the one that liberates you from the very barriers your mind has created. One day as you look back on your journey you may not remember every small victory but you will remember that you never stoped. That will be the moment you have realized – you didn’t just defeat resistance, you defeated your former self.
BUILDING SYSTEMS OF ACTIONS vs. RELAYING ON WILLPOWER
Willpower alone is not enough. Willpower is the fuel to get started, but systems are the tracks that keep you on course. This is where you need to create a solid system of action. A system that doesn’t depend on motivation or emotions, but operates as a personal commitment. For example, your system is: reading 10 pages each morning before checking your phone/reading 10 pages in the evening before going to sleep instead of checking your phone. If you want to write a book, your system is writing for 30min at a fixed time. Someone without the system is likely to fall off tracks within days. You may think a system will confine you but the truth is – a system gives you FREEDOM. A system turns “things I should do” into things that simply happen and you stop wrestling yourself every time resistance shows up. For example; a writer doesn’t always feel inspired but if she/he writes at the same time each day, the book eventually gets written. Stability comes from systems, not fleeting inspiration. For the start, when building systems, choose one thing at the time. Don’t overwhelm yourself with multiple things at the same time. When the first one becomes automatic, add the next layer and attach new habit to the old one.
If you want to explore more on how to build successful systems and habits stacking, I highly recommend book Atomic Habits by James Clear. (Disclosure: This is an affiliate link, which means I may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase, at no extra cost to you.)
YOU’RE BECOMING WHO YOU TRUST
Every time you follow through on what you said you’d do, even in the smallest way – you send a message to your mind: “I am someone I can rely on.” You don’t build trust in yourself through big wins or flawless routines. You build it by showing up when it’s inconvenient, doing the thing when no one’s watching, and keeping your promises, especially the ones you make to yourself.
Because when you can trust yourself, everything changes. That’s how you become unstoppable.
Not overnight, but day by day, decision by decision.
You’re not just building habits.
You’re building a relationship with yourself – and that relationship becomes your foundation for everything.
Love & Light,
Romy
