Consistency is Key

Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals."  - Jim Rohn

When I was a kid, I would be asked to set goals, but there was a problem with the goals that I set. The only goals I set, were the big goals. I remember one goal in particular that I set when I was about 13. The instructor asked the group of us what we wanted to achieve 10 years from then. I also remember that he was going to send the written down goals back to us in 10 years, but even the instructor was not consistent enough to follow through.

So, what did I list as my goals for 10 years into the future? Honestly, the only one that I can really remember is that I wanted to have $50,000 saved in the bank. By the age of 23, I had not reached that goal, and I have contemplated since then, that either I was a complete failure, or I didn't take the proper steps to reach that goal. I have tried to remember what I was taught about setting goals, and it has been recently that I have learned that goal setting is not so much the big final result, as it is breaking that big goal down into small, achievable and measurable goals. So, lets take my teenage fantasy goal and see what it may have looked like stretched out over 10 years.

My big dream was to save $50,000 in 10 years. I could have set a goal to save $5,000 a year, but if I missed that goal one year, it could derail my ultimate goal. If I broke that goal down even smaller I could have seen that I needed to save $417 per month. If I pushed it farther, I would have realized that I would need to save $96 per week. Now I have something that I could really work with. I could now figure out a way to earn at least $96 per week for 520 weeks over the course of 10 years. I could have mowed 6 or 7 lawns a week. Would a paper route pay me $417 month? Could I pull weeds for my neighbors for 20 hours a week to reach my goal?

The point is, all of this would have taken consistency. Consistency over the course of 10 years. The things that I could have done would probably change with time, experience, and maybe even how much I could have earned doing different types of jobs. As I have grown older, I have learned to set goals of consistency, instead of an idea, that is more of a dream, than a goal.

So, this year, try setting a goal of consistency. If you want to loose 25lbs, set a goal that you will walk/run for 30 minutes a day, or that you will write down everything that you eat. If you want to get married, set a goal that you are going to go to a social event once a week. If you want to save some money, set a goal about how much money that is going to be each week or month. The point is, set the goal, and then work towards it. You may not be perfect right at the beginning, but you will improve. You will get better, and then, you will learn how to set, work for, and achieve your wildest dreams because you set the right goals.