Is Consistency the Key to Success? — Photo by Razvan Chisu on Unsplash

Consistency is one of those values that our society seems to appreciate a lot. We dislike politicians who don’t keep their promises and stick to the program they have announced. We don’t love thinkers and scholars who change ideas too often. Even artists and celebrities are expected to maintain their original style. Why do we love consistency that much? What is consistency in the first place?

Consistency may mean very different things depending on the way it is perceived. Some people think that their consistency is based on the fact that they maintain a very strict schedule that reflects their main goal. However, other people think that consistency is about style and form, that is if they seem to be the same person or institution over time, they are consistent with who they are (this type of consistency is clearly evident in brand images, like logo, uniforms, motto, etc.). There are other groups that think that consistency is an internal characteristic, and it corresponds to the fact that someone or an institution has some values that are irrevocable. Then their actions and strategies must align with these original values.

Generally, all these factors combine to give the sensation that an institution or person is consistent, even though in most cases there is one of them that is much more emphasized.

Consistency is a very important strategy for everyone or every institution who wants to succeed, because:

1. It helps institutions, public figures, and brands to be recognizable

2. It attracts a certain audience and keeps them on track

3. It communicates some messages and has people change their mind

4. It allows institutions and people to corner a market or a concrete field

Therefore, consistency is perhaps the most transversal value. And there are several examples of people who have been consistent, and who get good results.

However, consistency is not always a positive trait. When you are too obsessive about consistency, it can be hard to see when your strategy or idea doesn’t work and to adapt yourself to what the audience wants, or also to what you are actually good at ―because sometimes we are just in the wrong field.

A lack of flexibility is as damaging as the absence of consistency. I think it is easier to find consistency than it is to be agile enough so that you can adapt yourself whenever this is required.

Consistency is quite the same concept as habit. The main difference between the two is that consistency has this connotation of purposeful actions and/or states, whereas habit can be conscious or unconscious. We are conditioned to have habits. Don’t we? The main thing a person needs to do to be consistent in something is to include it in their lifestyle.

However, when this practice has become part of their life, it is then hard to abandon it. As paradoxical as it sounds, that’s when the lack of flexibility may emerge and start to be damaging.

Redefining consistency

No one can avoid external influences. We are the result of what we have consumed. As our sources of influence are evolving and changing, the way we see life is also evolving most often progressively but sometimes harshly.

Under this circumstance, changing values should have been a normal process. However, as sacred the concept of consistency is for you, as hard it has become to evolve with time.

Sometimes too much consistency is just a waste of energy. If you do something in a bad way repeatedly, it is more likely that you are going to be burnt out and have no result. If you are doing something that has no attractiveness, and no one is interested in what you are doing, perhaps it’s not worth wasting your energy and time doing it. If you have done something for years and used to have great results in the past, and unexpectedly you don’t have the same good results, maybe something has changed, and you are not that responsive to it. And yet if you have been doing something for years and have no success at all and you have observed in your environment that this same activity works for many other people, maybe it’s not who you are or what you are good at.

Perhaps more than ever before our society is rapidly changing over time. One week not surfing the internet is sufficient to have you lose some updates, and never come to adjust to them because when you come there are more recent updates as well. When you only focus on your original plan when you have a long-term project, it’s very difficult to get a result that meets your audience's needs. If your plan is static, their needs and interests are changing, your result would probably be obsolete.

I don’t mean that you suppose to give up an activity at the first instance you realize that it is not working, but since this very first sign, you need to take time to reflect on your activity, have a glance at it from the outside and compare it with what has recent success.

I don’t think that you need to be adapting to each new trend, but keep in mind that updating and being responsive is perhaps the new way to be consistent, and that doing things as always can keep you on the margin of your own field or niche.

Success is not only the fruit of hard work and consistency, but it is also a result of good strategy, talent, timing, contacts, flexibility, and so on.

https://medium.com/illumination/is-consistency-the-key-to-success-ce114a0cb389

Is Consistency the Key to Success?