Consistency Creates Clarity

A great way to know if something is worth doing is by doing it--but not just doing it once. You won't be able to discern the value of a workout class if you only attend one time, just like you can't determine whether taking a vitamin improves your health if you only take it once. Many things in life require consistency for their true value to become clear.

The same principle applies when you are trying to achieve goals or chase your dreams. Taking one step or making one attempt isn't going to help you decide if you really should pursue something. It is the wisdom gained over time, through consistent action, that helps you find your way. 

Consistent action either brings clarity to which outcome you truly want or clarity about which actions will actually move you forward. Sometimes it takes a couple of years of working a desk job to realize you're meant to work in a creative industry. 

That was me.

Trial and error only works when you allow yourself to make mistakes, and mistakes sometimes take time to reveal themselves. Now that I've been redirected to where I am supposed to be, I have a clearer vision of which actions I should be taking and also of what outcome I want from my life.     

Even after redirection I still make what I consider to be "essential" mistakes-- mistakes that allow me to learn more about where I'm really meant to go and what I'm really meant to do. I find this is never a waste of time, but rather a wonderful opportunity to explore new sides of myself and develop skills that I ultimately need to achieve my fullest potential.

I spent the past four years filming, editing, and uploading content to my YouTube channel. I was posting long-form videos weekly for the better part of that time, and I thought that the videos I was making were going to become part of my success story. 

I learned a lot from making those videos and I am incredibly grateful that I decided to start my channel. The clarity I gained from the consistency I was giving YouTube was unexpected: the videos I was making were not the videos I actually wanted to be creating as my career progressed. I had to fully follow that path in order to get this single yet powerful piece of clarity about how I wanted to approach my future. 

After recognizing I wanted to revamp my channel, I archived everything and am now preparing to launch a new style of long-form video. I wouldn't have been aware of this promising new direction for my content if I hadn't spent a couple of years doing things that ultimately showed me what wasn't right for me, and I wouldn't be ready for what I'm supposed to do next if I hadn't learned from that path first.

Consistency is challenging. It's not easy to find time to repeat certain actions over and over again to the point of gaining clarity from them. Life happens, and we have to be gracious with ourselves along the way. Better yet, we can implement systems that improve our ability to remain consistent week after week and month after month. 

In my previous blog, "Slow Growth Still Counts, Small Growth Still Matters", I announced the launch of my Dream Out Loud Short-Term Consistency System. This system is a free short-term goal planner designed to help you stay consistent while working toward your dreams. It is the exact method I used to reach the point I am at today--working as an international model in Milan, Italy.

I couldn't have gotten to this point without taking steps toward chasing this dream every single day. That's not easy to do as a busy mother of two, but having a clear system made it possible.

This system is designed to help you achieve short-term goals through predetermination and prioritization. Simply set your term length, write down your goals, break them into phases, select what you're going to focus on for each phase, and identify the daily actions that will move you forward. Determining and prioritizing actions ahead of time eliminates decision fatigue and makes it much easier to remain consistent.

I've included a more detailed description of how to use this system in the link here. This link will direct you to a Google Drive folder that includes both the system and the system guide. Use the guide to learn how to replicate my exact approach to creating consistent progress through slow, steady growth.

The only thing we can control in life is ourselves. We control our input--how we show up, when we show up, and where we show up--and consistency is an essential part of attaining clarity for what we want to create for ourselves in life--our output.

I know that the phase of life I'm in right now could very well lead to another moment of redirection. I welcome that, because I know I'll end up exactly where I'm meant to be in the end. I trust that today's consistent actions will clearly reveal everything that is worth it for me to do to create the tomorrow of my dreams.