Workaholics Anonymous—A 12-Step Program of Recovery and Personal Transformation (Step 6)

In this step I am going to reveal one of my greatest weapons for beating the competition and achieving in every area of life.

AND I am going to answer one of life’s greatest age-old questions: How does the tortoise always beat the hare in a race?

I used to get frustrated when starting a new venture and I’d see the competition leap out in front and get off to a fast and successful start. Then I found the single discipline that gave me the advantage to beat anybody at almost anything – CONSISTENCY.

A lot of people get gung-ho about new goals or achievements and charge out of the gate in an explosion of activity that eventually flares out. Meanwhile, while maybe not as flamboyant of a start, a commitment to ongoing consistency will usually not only catch them but leave them in the dust every time. I do what I have found most people cannot – stay consistent.

Lack of consistency is the subtle but great stealer of dreams and desires. The stop and start process is what kills progress in any pursuit. It is probably one of the greatest reasons why people don’t ultimately achieve their goals, thus end up living a life of continuous discontent, frustration and disappointment.

Let me explain the power and advantage of consistency in an analogy…

Think of a hand-pumped water well. The water table is, let’s say, 25 feet below the ground. A pipe runs down to the water table and you have to pump the lever to create the suction to get the water above the ground and out the spout.

Here is what most people do when they start a new endeavor. They grab the lever and start pumping really hard… they pump and pump, and after a few minutes (or a few weeks), they don’t see any water (results), so they give up the lever altogether. People expect instant results. This is where most people quit, before the success ever begins.

If they persevere and continue to pump and pump the lever, eventually they get a few drops of water. This is when a lot of people say, “You’ve got to be kidding! All this pumping and for what, a few drops of water, forget it!”

If you continue to pump soon enough you will get a full and steady stream of water. Congratulations, a success!

But now here comes the secret…

Now that the water is flowing, you no longer need to pump the lever as hard. It becomes easy and you can keep the pressure steady by just pumping the lever CONSISTENTLY.

Now, in our water-well analogy, what happens if you let go of the lever for 30 seconds or so? This is what happens if you don’t strap on your gym shoes for a week or two. The water falls below the ground and you are back to square one again.  To just get back where you were you have to pump the lever like crazy again. But if you’d just kept a consistent, easy, even stroke, you could have kept the water (success) flowing.

Do you know someone who yo-yo’s with their health or fitness? Maybe you know that person intimately?! I see people buy a new book, sign up for a new program and go like crazy for a couple of weeks or months. Then they stop and end up right back where they started.

It’s not how you (or your competition) start; it’s how you CONTINUE.

This is one of my favorite quotes of all time:
The definition of commitment is: Doing the thing you said you were going to do, long after the mood you said it in has left you.

CONSISTENCY – that is why the tortoise beats the hare every time.

See the entire Workaholics Anonymous series to date: HERE

Follow Darren behind the scenes of SUCCESS: www.twitter.com/DarrenHardy

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