Every successful entrepreneur will tell you that the trick to gaining success in anything is consistency. That’s an ugly word for some of us, especially when the struggle of finding a healthy work/life balance is real. But, consistency is ultimately what sets the winners apart from the ones who just watch from the sidelines. Throw in a season change, and the challenge intensifies.
Why is it so hard to remain consistent when seasons are changing? In risk of sounding redundant, it’s because of just that: change.It’s human nature to “get used to something” and settle into a comfort zone, and depending on the season, we start to dread the upcoming season or we are incredibly anxious for its arrival. A seasonal change can – and will – affect our productivity as we manage the shift of balance and focus.
Just being aware of the mindset shift is helpful, but there are things that we can put into place to help maintain our consistency in spite of the time of year.
Create Successful Habits
Studies have found that on average, it takes 66 days to form a habit. For some, it may take longer, and for others, habits may fall into place much quicker. The important thing to remember is that habits create momentum, and the greater the momentum, the harder it is to stop your business from moving in the right direction.
Forming habits is effective, no doubt.
If you’re a blogger, creating a habit of writing every morning is excellent.
Checking your email at a certain time of day every day will prevent important leads from falling through the crack.
Adding off-hour business thoughts quickly to a project management tool, like Asana, is an excellent strategy for organization.
But, implementing systems as habits is going to benefit your business the most.
Some examples of systems that become successful habits:
- Create a habit of scheduling a month’s worth of social media posts at once.
- Sit down at the end of every quarter to write and/or review your marketing plan.
- Make a habit of paying your quarterly estimated taxes early, on the 10th day of every month.
Accountability is Key
To be consistent, lean on your business besties for accountability. Check in with them regularly and be prepared to either brag about your accomplishments or explain why you haven’t achieved your goal to stay consistent. The right accountability partner will help you take a look at what the struggle may be, and offer some solution to help.
Keep yourself accountable and consistent with rewards. Honestly, the reward to consistency will show up naturally, as your business starts to reach its goals, but if you need more short-term rewards to keep pushing along the right path, make it happen for yourself!
Some respond best to negative consequences to stay committed – one way to keep this healthy is for your negative consequence to result in a positive outcome for someone else. One idea is to join friends in pulling money together in a pot and after a certain amount of time, only those who remained consistent and met their goals will get to keep any of the fund. Another idea is to donate a sum of money to a non-profit organization – you will “feel” the impact of the lack of funds, but the deserving non-profit organization will benefit.
Put a Plan in Place
Plan for the upcoming season change. Season changes are a sure thing, so we can prepare for them ahead of time. Benjamin Franklin said it best, By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.
If you have a plan in place for how to transition from season to season, you are more likely to stay consistent. Planning ahead will help you proactively eliminate obstacles or barriers that will drain your willpower or feed your procrastination.
Putting a plan into place, establishing accountability practices, and creating successful habits that involve systems will all contribute to your success when it comes to staying consistent from season to season.
What do all of these things have in common? Effort. It all comes down to you, and it starts with an active decision, a commitment. These steps will help what feels now like a burden eventually feel more and more like passive decisions over time. Experience the success yourself and master the art of consistency with these action items, and you will join the winners in the game of success.
About the Author
Mary Barbee
Custom VA Solutions
Systems and Project Management, Virtual Assistants
As the founder of Custom VA Solutions, Mary Barbee specializes in providing online business support and strategy, helping small businesses reach big goals. With over 15 years experience as a business owner in both product and service based businesses, Mary has built, systemized and sold successful companies of her own, but she has found her happy place providing her entrepreneurial knowledge and expertise to online businesses as a virtual assistant, starting in 2013. Since then, Mary has developed and organized a stellar team of experts inside Custom VA Solutions, providing services that start with strategy and include task implementation of all levels. According to Mary, the best part of owning and managing a virtual assistant service is the constant opportunity to learn, do and teach. When one client reaches success, there are always tricks to learn and apply to another business, and taking notes of success has always been one of Mary’s strengths.
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