Most athletes mess up their amateur and/or professional careers by choosing inconsistency. They
play below their capability and capacity. In the long run, this is why they fail to reach their
personal goals and full potential; they are inconsistent.
Perhaps more than most professions, in athletics you’re only as good as your last performance.
So how do you succeed? By being consistent at being consistent. It’s not easy to combine the art
of meditation and concentration with being explosive and on the offensive. Consistency is the
spice of greatness. Excellence is never an act, but always a habit.
How do you become a consistent athlete?
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “consistency is the key to success” or something like that. It’s
true but it’s a misleading cliche. The real path to success isn’t just to change the way you act but
to be the same person you need to be to be effective. True success is not a destination but rather a
collection of amazing performances along the way. Its in the becoming where the joy and
passion are found.
Often, when working with high performers, when things are not going they way the want, they
begin to ask “what do I have to do?”. They focus on what they need to do and trying to get it
right. That’s not the key to success. The key is who you are being! The more meaningful question
to ask oneself is, “Who do I need to be?”. Most athletes focus on what they need to do and trying
to get it right. That’s not the key to success. The key is who you are being! It’s who you are being
in the moment that inspires and influences you to show up and perform at your best.
Time after time, the athletes who make significant improvements in their lifetimes are not those
who made one big change, whether positive or negative. Rather, they were the ones who were
consistent and steady in making small changes over and over again, usually without seeing much
in the way of immediate results.
The best athletes have a consistency formula and work hard to perfect it. Your goal should be to
be consistent at being consistent, do the same things at a certain time and place every day. The
way to get there is ritual and routine. Most people think of consistency as an attribute, like being
honest or punctual. But consistency is actually a behavior, like brushing your teeth.
The key to staying consistent is being in the now and not about results or outcomes. If you focus
too much on results, you can end up draining energy to past and future thinking, your energy
would be better used in the moment for creativity, intuition, and action. All these energetic
attributes are present when an athlete is in the sports “zone”, and performing at their best.
Have a vision for yourself, where you are being the person who is authentic, effective in their
performance and meets their targets by playing the game in the right way; 100% engaged in the
process, and for the right reasons. The success formula then becomes simple.
Be consistent in your rituals and routines. Set your goal to be who you need to ‘be’ in the game.
Set your intentions as to how you will perform because of you are being. In the end you may find
yourself meeting your daily and longer-term targets as a result.
Consistency is the key to greatness. Being a consistent athlete requires the right mindset; an open
one to see yourself differently. Also, to develop elite level habits and rituals, learning to be in the
‘now’ moment, because that is where the “zone” can be consistently accessed for greater
performances that can become the norm not just the exception.
