What if I told you there was one thing that was the key to your success?
Whether it’s something you’re trying to achieve in your life, or in your biz.
It’s a word you’ve heard before. Probably hundreds of times.
The word is (drumroll please) consistency. Did your eyes roll a little when I said that?
Consistency is something we love to hate, isn’t it?
We know it’s the difference maker when it comes to accomplishing what we want to do.
But cultivating the habit of consistency is such a challenge.
Which begs the question - why?
If being consistent is something we know we must do in order to get the life we’re working toward… Why do we struggle with it?
I’ve got a theory on that. But before I share it, let me tell you a story.
It’s a story about sleep. Not sexy, I know, but it’s something you’ll want to hear… so stick with me.
Most of my adult life - and even as a child as I think about it - I’ve had difficulty sleeping.
It wasn’t something I was very good at. It was challenging to fall asleep, and it was equally challenging to stay asleep.
I tried So.Many.Things.
Supplements. Meditations. Books. No screens. Apps. And so many other proposed ideas.
I kept trying all these different things with a vague idea in my head of what I expected to happen.
I expected to sleep “better” but I’d never really defined what “better” meant.
I just knew I didn’t want to be tired anymore.
Fast forward to a few months ago. I purchased a little device.
It’s something called an oura ring.
And there are other brands out there that do the same thing. I’m not super attached to this specific one but I do like mine.
Anyway, It’s a ring I wear that tracks my sleeping activity.
My sleeping is monitored and then I’m given recommendations and feedback on how I can improve my sleep, recovery and rest daily.
Guess what happened?
My sleep got “better”.
But here’s the thing -- the supplements, the meditation -- all of those things I still do.
I think they were helping.
But it wasn’t until I had a feedback loop in place that I was able to measure any sort of result.
I had numbers.
I had actual, concrete data.
I could make decisions.
I knew I could take specific steps based on what the information was telling me.
I’d been missing this key piece of my goal to sleep better the entire time and hadn’t really realized it.
Amazing, right?
This same concept applies to any place in life or business where you’re working to build consistency.
If you try to create consistency in a vacuum - with no feedback, no analysis, no measurable information - you’re not going to see the results you’re hoping for.
Even if you think you’re passively looking at the information available to you, you have to have a way to actually track it.
Let’s talk about another example to really bring this home.
Say you’ve been posting on social media for your business. You’ve posted daily for a couple weeks. Or even months….
Everyday, you check the comments, likes and shares on the posts.
And maybe you look at the numbers.
If you do, in that moment, you know in your head what those numbers are. I.e how many people have watched your Live, your stories, etc.
But you don’t write it down.
You go about your day.
The next day comes and you have a new set of numbers. But guess what?
The data you’re “gathering” has no meaning right now.
You haven’t been comparing it to anything.
So the information has no context.
And honestly, (don’t hate the messenger), this means your efforts are being wasted.
Because you don’t know what’s working and what isn’t working.
In the absence of that information, you may make rash choices like “this posting doesn’t work!”
Whereas if you’d had a way to track the information day by day - by recording it somewhere - you’d be able to notice patterns.
You’d create a story with the information and that story could inform your future strategy.
That’s what I do.
I track.
EVERYTHING.
The number of calls I book a month with new people.
The number of people that don’t show up to those calls.
The number of new customers I get in my business.
The number of new business partners who join me.
How quickly my new partners are taking action.
How many people on my list are opening my emails.
Or clicking through.
Or watching my Lives. And for how long.
Or viewing my static posts Vs. video posts.
Or watching my stories. And what days, or even times of the day.
Or listening to my podcast.
Or reading this blog, or just the homepage on my website.
Or engaging in my signature Facebook groups like Healthy Habits & Hacks or Consciously Creating Your Whole You.
Or how many people are joining those groups weekly.
Having all the information you need to be knowledgeable about what you’re doing is the key to consistency.
So now, my challenge to you is to examine the actions you’re taking around goals you’re trying to achieve.
Where can you measure your progress a little more concretely?
Where can you spend time analyzing the impact of the choices you’re making?
To help you achieve this challenge, I’ve got a mini planner you can download. It’s an intentions planner.
This planner will help you lay out the process you’re going to put into place in order to start gathering feedback and meaningful information.
Give yourself time to track some data so you can make meaningful decisions. And when you begin building that habit, I’d bet my favorite latte you’ll start seeing consistency happen.
Suddenly things won’t feel draining - they’ll be exciting. Because you’ll have purpose and meaning behind your decisions.
XO,
Hayley