You start out feeling excited and energized about going after your big goals.

You made an action plan and told your friends and family what you’re going to work on. You’re finally going to get stuff done!

You start to take action on your plan and the first couple weeks go quite well.

Then… You begin to fizzle out over the coming weeks. 

Sometimes you take action and sometimes you don’t. You have abrupt starts and stops. It’s a lot harder than you thought. You realize that maybe you don’t have the time or energy for this. You discover that it’s often uncomfortable to work on your goals. It’s not as cozy and safe as what you’re used to.

You might have a great routine going and some good momentum, but something disrupts it (like getting sick, going on vacation or a heavy work period) and then you get derailed and mostly abandon your goals and habits.

All of this adds up to inconsistency (also known as “flaking out”). And being inconsistent is one of the most common downfalls we face when working on our goals.

How to Take Consistent Action and Avoid Flaking Out on Your Goals

1. Make the milestone, task or habit easier.

Keep finding ways to reduce resistance or friction when working on your goals. What would be the easiest first step you can take on your big goal or project?

If the task, “Submit last year’s business taxes” is causing you a lot of resistance because you know this is a multi-step, annoying project, then look for that easy first step: “Locate receipts and put them on the office desk”.

By doing that, you’ve just prepared yourself for the second step. Now, momentum will start to build and it will be much easier to take consistent action.

Make those tasks easier: It feels better to start out having success with easier tasks and habits, and then gradually increase the difficulty as you become used to working on them.

2. Schedule your tasks and habits

Assign a time to work on your tasks and habits. Stick to that time as best as you can.

Committing to your tasks like this helps you stay more consistent.

If you have several smaller tasks, you can schedule a block of time for when to finish them.

Work on your habits around the same time each day to create consistency.

Tasks and habits that get scheduled to “whenever” usually don’t get done!

3. Track or measure your habits and tasks daily.

By tracking your habits and tasks, you’re telling yourself that this is something important to you. It’s a commitment to yourself.

Tracking accurately shows you proof of how you’re really doing. You don’t have to guess, you’ll know exactly how many times you went to the gym last month or how many hours sleep you got last week.

It takes less than 5 minutes a day to track what you’re working on. As always, keep your system simple and time-efficient.

If you track your habits and tasks daily, this will boost your ability to take more consistent action.

Try these ideas above. Being inconsistent is probably costing you a lot when it comes to making progress on your goals. Taking consistent action will help you stay on the path and get the results that you’re looking for.

Keep going for your goals!

Nigel

Nigel Cook
Accountability Coach
Holding Your Feet to the Fire

PS: Want to reach your goals faster? Check out one of the online accountability coaching programs and book a free Coaching Call.

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