Did you know that by mid-January, nearly two-thirds of people have already abandoned their New Year’s Resolutions. If you’re ready to break that cycle and make 2025 your year of unstoppable success, I’ve got something for you. It’s the one habit that guarantees success.
In my opinion, it all comes down to consistency. Yes, consistency.
A habit that if mastered, can ensure the success of any habit, goal, or resolution you set.
Without it, you risk finding yourself among those who give up just a few weeks into the new year. I’m sure you don’t want that.
In this episode, you will take away nine practical strategies to help you cultivate consistency and set yourself up for success in 2025.
Why does consistency matter so much?
As Bruce Lee famously said, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.“
Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally. It comes from what you do consistently.
Consistency creates a compound effect. Small repeated actions over time lead to significant results.
Of course, it’s not just about repetition. It’s about intentional repetition. Showing up consistently while learning, improving, and adapting.
The biggest challenge for most people is to show up consistently. Everything I’ve achieved in my life, personally or professionally, has been thanks to consistency. I’m not smarter, faster or stronger than anyone else. But over time, consistency has become my superpower.
And here’s the good news. Consistency isn’t an innate trait. It’s a muscle you can build.
Let me share two personal examples where consistency transformed my life.
The first one is my physical health. Two and a half years ago, I learned how critical muscle building is for women over 40 years old. I joined a CrossFit gym and started working out three times a week. Gradually, I built up to now five times a week, consistently showing up Monday through Friday at 7 a.m. Now, at 45 years old, I am stronger than I have ever been with my lowest body fat percentage and looking more toned than ever.
I’m saying this not to brag. Looking great is amazing, but more importantly, I feel fantastic. I’m more energized than ever with the vitality to live fully and tackle challenges just like everyone else.
The other example is public speaking. I used to be terrified of public speaking. And I was terrible at it. I wasn’t engaged, and I lacked confidence.
Two and a half years ago, I decided to tackle my fear head-on. I joined Toastmasters and committed to practice weekly.
If you don’t know what Toastmasters is – Toastmasters is a global organization that helps individuals improve their public speaking, communication, and leadership skills through a supportive and structured environment. If public speaking is something that you want to work on, I highly recommend that you check it out.
Today my peers call me “Coco the Dynamo”, and I’ve become one of the most dynamic speakers in my circle.
How did I get here? Just in two and a half years. You got it. The answer is consistency.
I show up week after week, even when it’s uncomfortable. That deliberate practice has transformed me into a confident, engaging, and impactful speaker.
So those are just two examples. I can give you many more, but you get the point.
I’ve noticed that in my gym, at Toastmasters clubs, or in other aspects of my life, many people struggle to show up consistently. That’s why they are not making the progress they hope for.
But with the right mindset and strategies, you can cultivate this habit. Consistency is a habit. And make it part of your identity.
So here are nine strategies to help you build consistency. And these strategies can be applied to any habit or goal you have in your mind.
One: Recognize consistency as the key to success.
You need to remind yourself daily that consistency is non-negotiable for achieving your goals. So I challenge you to take a few minutes to think about the success you’ve achieved in your life so far, whether it’s academic, professional, sports or family-related, any aspect of your life, I bet you, can identify consistency as a key ingredient for that success and remind yourself of that.
Two: Know your why.
Why do you want to build this new habit? And your why is your motivation, and it’s key to build consistency, especially when things get tough.
For me, both the physical health and public speaking examples that I used earlier, both of them, my why is freedom, which is my top value.
Physical health, When I’m healthy, and strong and feeling great, then I have the energy to do whatever I want to do. I’m free to do whatever I want to do. That is freedom to me
When I decided to work on my public speaking skills was when I decided to leave corporate world and started building my coaching practice. I realized public speaking is crucial for me to build a successful coaching practice. And a successful coaching practice means I don’t have to go back to corporate America, which means I get to do what I love to do, which is freedom.
So now, public speaking equals freedom and is not just about speaking. It’s similar to health; it’s not only going to the gym. It’s about going to the gym and practicing learning public speaking, which both give me the freedom to do what I want whenever I want to do it. That is powerful and serves as my strong motivation, inspiring me to wake up early in the morning and go every day.
What’s your why? What drives you to start this new habit and set this goal for yourself? Connect to your why regularly, and remember that your motivation shouldn’t just be about making more money or getting a promotion. There’s a deeper emotional reason; reach that depth and connect with it, because that reason is what motivates you to show up consistently.
Three: Make it a priority.
You need to intentionally block time for your most important habit.
For me, I have two essential habits first in the morning: 15-minute meditation, And 7 a.m. workout.
To make it happen, I plan ahead. I wake up at six, meditate, get ready, and then go to the gym. I wake up at 6 a.m. each day and go to bed by 10:30 p.m. to ensure I get enough sleep. If I go out to a party, I leave early to ensure I stay on track.
There are times when there’s conflict. For instance, I have early client meetings and things like that, and I cannot go to the 7 a.m. workout.
I go to an earlier workout. I go to the 6 a.m. workout because I know if I don’t do it first thing in the morning, I won’t do it later in the day because things happen like I get tired. I prioritize that and adjust my schedule to make it happen.
I sometimes hear people say, I stayed up too late scrolling social media or watching Netflix. So I couldn’t wake up early. So I missed the gym. You know the truth? The truth is that scrolling social media and watching movies are more important to you than working out. So, if something is truly important to you, you make time for it, and then you make it a priority.
And of course, life happens, You will miss it occasionally. I sometimes miss it too, but it’s not a big deal. And just get back on; there’s no beating yourself up, and practice self-compassion. If you are not familiar with self-compassion practice, please listen to episode seven on self-compassion. And it was a game-changer for me.
Four: Start small.
When I first started CrossFit, I only went three times a week. And now, with time, I build up to five times a week—the same thing with Toastmasters. When I first started, I only went once a week. And now I’m a member of three different clubs. I go three times a week, but it’s a progression.
I started small. I started a goal or an amount that is manageable, and achievable for me. That’s something critical to ensure success and that you can stick with your plan.
Start with baby steps. Make it manageable and achievable. Get your body and mind used to it. if you start too big. It will feel too overwhelming. And that’s why a lot of people give up is because they set the goal and the habits just too big to manage. So remember to start small.
Five: Overcome resistance.
Let me be very honest with you. I’m not a machine. I’m a human being. I have my feelings, and I have my good days and bad days over the past two and a half years. Were there times that I didn’t feel like showing up at the gym and my Toastmasters meetings?
Of course, I will be lying if I didn’t have that. But in those moments, I reminded myself how great I would feel afterward. Whether it’s finishing a workout or delivering a speech, the sense of accomplishment just feels so incredible. And I remind myself, “I don’t feel like going in right now, but once I do it, I push through this discomfort, and I get to feel that sense of accomplishment, and it’s totally worth it.”
One thing I want you to know about our brain and this inertia, this resistance, it’s nothing unique about you. Our brain is wired for survival and comfort, not for happiness and growth. Because our ancestors in tens of thousands of years ago, didn’t know when their next meal was going to be. So, the brain was trained to conserve energy. Now, tens of thousands of years later, we have plenty of resources and food, but we still have the same brain. Our brain prefers to conserve energy. We prefer to stay on the couch to be comfortable working out and burning the energy, even though working out is better for our health.
Knowing that is very important. It is our brain is playing tricks on us. We need to learn to fight the initial inertia and resistance. the resistance is normal. In those moments of resistance, remind yourself the feeling after you accomplish the goal you set out to do. It’s very, very effective.
Six: Be Patient.
Results take time. I remember there was a period of time that I experienced a plateau in public speaking, and I felt that I was doing my speech the same way and over and over, and I didn’t see much improvement. I felt frustrated and discouraged, but I stuck with it. Later on, I realized only in that phase that I got to reflect and figure out what I needed to learn and improve to get to the next level. And it was a necessary step in this overall journey.
So, same for you. For a certain period of time, you might not see immediate progress. But trust that consistency will eventually bring you results in the long run. So you need to keep showing up even when it feels like nothing is happening.
Seven: Create a supportive environment.
You need to design an environment that supports your habit.
For instance, with my workout, I knew that I wouldn’t lift weight alone. I tried it before and it was just way too boring for me. I gave up very quickly.
Knowing that about myself, I joined a group class, the energy, the music, the camaraderie and the coach, All of those elements keep me motivated.
You need to find the right environment that works for you.
Eight: Leverage accountability.
Accountability is huge. I’m writing my book right now. I’m in a year-long writing program. I meet with an editor every week. This structure really ensures that I stay on track and especially writing about difficult topics because I have someone checks in with me, encourages me, supports me, and holds me accountable.
A lot of times, doing whatever you’re doing Is not that easy. even for me, I see it as a part of my identity now. I still need accountability, especially on the things that are new, challenging and difficult for me. If I didn’t join the writing program, I would have given up this whole writing a while ago. And since I’m in this program and I have the structure, I have that accountability to ensure my success. S
You need to learn to create your accountability mechanism, whatever works for you, either get a coach or join a program or get a buddy, whatever works for you. Accountability is powerful.
Nine: Celebrate your progress.
This one is big. I didn’t use to celebrate my progress or my wins and effort before at all, because I grew up in a culture and I believed that celebration equals complacency. But recently, I’ve learned celebration activates our brain’s reward system. And then it releases dopamine, the dopamine, this feel good hormone gives us motivation. The motivation leads to action. Action leads to movement and movement eventually builds momentum.
That’s how important celebration is and, review your progress – your weekly progress, monthly progress, yearly progress, and sometimes you may not even very clear about your progress, then guess what? Ask other people’s feedback because they can see more objectively than you do yourself. And when you get the feedback and genuinely sit with that sense of pride and pat yourself on the back, and reward yourself with a treat. Celebrate your progress because when you celebrate your progress, it reinforces your motivation.
Consistency is the one habit that can truly transform your life. I know mastering consistency isn’t easy, but it’s so worth it because it pays back exponentially. Once you have this habit it becomes so much easier to build every other habit in your life.
Over time, this habit of consistency is not just a habit, it actually becomes part of you and then becomes part of your identity. So now, I see myself as a consistent person because that’s how I approach everything in life.
With these strategies and deliberate practice, I’m confident you can make consistency part of your identity, too.
Once you do, the possibilities for your growth and success in 2025 and beyond are limitless. And I am looking forward to celebrating with you.
Until next time, remember to be kind to be yourself!
