Well, we’re a week into 2013. How are your projects (my happy term for resolutions) coming? Have you dropped the ball on any of them yet? It is a common enough problem. We are ultra-motivated the first few days, but as life gets back to normal, and normal issues crop up, we slip back into our old ways, and any new intentions quietly disappear. How can we prevent this from happening? The answer can be found in one of my favorite Walt Disney quotes.
“Somehow I can’t believe there are many heights that can’t be scaled by a man who knows the secret of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C’s. They are Curiosity, Confidence, Courage, and Constancy, and the greatest of these is Confidence. When you believe a thing, believe it all over, implicitly and unquestioningly.” Walt Disney
Walt believed that confidence was most important. It is important, but I have found that all the confedince in the world means nothing if you aren’t constant, or consistent. You may be confident that you can run a half-marathon, but if you are not consistent in your training you will not succeed. You may be confident you can become debt-free, but if you are not consistent in paying off your debt, and not creating more, than you will not succeed.
So take a look at your projects. Have you been consistently working on them or have days gone by when you have not given them a thought? Reaffirm your goals and make a plan to tackle them every day. I know we can all be successful if we all focus on being constantly consistant. Happiness squared.
Goofy Tip: One of my favorite ways to measure consistency is with a calendar and a sheet of star stickers. Every day that you work on your project put a star on that date on the calendar. Aim to have seven stars in a row. Once you can do something for a week work on getting 30 stars in a row. If you miss a day, don’t give up, just start over on the next day. As you get more and more stars you’ll want to work on your goal just so you won’t have any blank spots on your calendar. I think we are hard-wired from elementary school to love earning stars for good work. Try giving yourself some stars in 2013.