Consistency

I've gotten a behind-the-curtain look at an unusual number of people's daily lives.

The #1 skill that sets those who flourish apart from those who don't is consistency.

Below are the best tools I've seen for maintaining it.

1. Shamelessness

If you attack yourself for moments of inconsistency, you will take longer to return to consistency. Shame reinforces avoidance.

It's fine that you missed a day. Don't make it mean anything about yourself. Just relax and get back to it.

2. Do it first

The later in the day, the more distraction;

The more distractions, the harder it is to be consistent.

The easiest way to do something consistently is to do it first.

3. Antifragile reflection

If your life includes rhythmic reflections that transform every failure into greater resilience, every lapse in consistency will increase your consistency long-term.

The simplest system for this has four steps:

1. Every day, track whether you attend to your top priority;
2. Every week, look at how many times you didn't;
3. For every time you didn't, ask why;
4. For every why, ask how you can protect against it in the future.

A more rigorous system for this is:

1. Plan out every minute of your week in your calendar, with as many recurring daily events as possible;
2. Either follow what the calendar says, or change what it says to reflect what you actually did;
3. Compare what happened to what you predicted would happen every week;
4. For every deviation, change either the recurring calendar or some aspect of your life. (If you find out you're going to bed later than planned, then either change your bedtime in the calendar or begin setting a wind-down alarm.)

Both of these systems derive their power from simple awareness.

You have a natural desire to live with alignment and skill. Everyone does. Your desire simply needs a practice of awareness to refine its expression.