The Persistence to Be Consistent
He approached me with his hands in the air and the words flowing from his mouth, “Okay, I’m the guilty party. Go ahead arrest me now.”
Those who were standing around me just stared at him. They really weren’t sure what was going on. I had just finished my Opening Keynote presentation on No Limits. I talked about the self-restrictions you put on self and how that limits what you can do. I had said, “Most are better at starting than they are at completing. We begin with a burst of excitement and because it never matures into enthusiasm, we hit a wall, get knocked down and when there is no one there to pick us up, we just roll over and play dead. What is missing inside most is the persistence to be consistent.”
As he got closer, he stuck his hands out like he wanted me to put handcuffs on him. “It’s okay,” he continued. “I am the person you were talking about. I am great at starting and terrible at finishing. I have started more things that I have never finished than a hundred people will do in a lifetime. I get excited, jump in with both feet, run into a wall, get knocked down, blame someone or something and then race off to find the next adventure. Go ahead and take me away.”
He paused, put his hand to his cheek, stared off into the distance and said with a look of bewilderment on his face; “Richard, I wonder what my life would be like if I had just finished a third of what I started. I am a person filled with good intentions, but lack the persistence to be consistent.”
Do you think he is the only person like that? Most are not persistently consistent because they are not consistently persistent. They begin with a huge amount of excitement that is created by what they think they can achieve, but they never slow down and consider what the journey will demand. It sounds good and offers them something they think they want, so off they go. Then, what happens when they run into the first wall where they come face to face with uncertainty? What happens when their pace slams them into what they are not prepared for? What happens when hitting the wall knocks the wind out of their sails and they haven’t prepared to handle the challenge of the impact?
Reality is—most crawl away bruised and battered. They find things to blame, excuses to make it okay and reasons to justify not getting up. Reality is—it wasn’t the wall that was the problem; it was the lack of preparation for the journey.
Excitement is important, but if it doesn’t mature into enthusiasm, you are not prepared for challenges you will face on the journey. Excitement demands a source to continually replenish it. That means there must be someone you can plug into to recharge your energy cells. Enthusiasm replenishes itself. It is you being able to recharge yourself.
Most things in life are not too difficult; they are just not prepared for. Most of life’s knockdowns are not fatal blows; they are just unexpected pitfalls. Most run into walls because they didn’t take the time to prepare for the journey.
Marilyn Roeke is my Vice President of Sales and Marketing. I have to tell you I wouldn’t want her job. I marvel at her persistent consistency. I respect her consistent persistency. On more than one occasion, I have had a meeting planner tell me, “She is one persistent person.” Put yourself in her shoes. Day after day, she makes phone calls trying to find people who are ready for my message. (I deal with the issues that people know they need to hear, but don’t want to listen to.) Day after day, she dials numbers where she gets voice mail. She leaves a message and doesn’t get a return phone call. For most that would be discouraging, but for Marilyn it is just part of the journey. Oh, I know it gets to her every now and then. We talk about it, but it doesn’t stop her.
How many salespeople do you know who get the “no” and just crawl off feeling rejected? How many salespeople won’t prospect because they don’t want to face the person saying “no” to them? Reality is—that is not a salesperson. A true salesperson understands the meaning of “no.” They understand it is not a personal thing; it is simply a word used to handle the moment. They see “no” as a semi-colon, not a period.
Not long ago Marilyn booked an engagement where for three years she had been told “no.” Three years of effort and hearing the word “NO!” Tell me that isn’t the persistence to be consistent. Most would have given up and never called again after the second “no” or non-returned phone call. Not Marilyn! No, she was persistent with her consistency and achieved her mission.
Hey, maybe that is part of the issue here. Maybe the mission of many is to get the “no” so they can justify not going back. Maybe the mission of many is to hit the wall, so they can have a reason to not continue. Without the persistence to be consistent, you will always justify the lack of results.
What is involved in creating this persistence to be consistent? Here are my thoughts:
It demands personal trust. How important is personal belief? Anytime you start something new the first test will always be how much do you trust yourself. If you don’t trust yourself, the first wall will not be a knockdown; it will be a knockout.
It demands emotional calmness. It is not about whether life will knock you down; that is a given. It is about how that part of you deals with the knockdown. You will either emotionally react and find the reasons to justify not getting up, or you will respond with resilience and get up ready to take on the next encounter. Most people face life’s issues emotionally first and mentally second. If they are using the wrong emotions to define what happened, they will justify with reasons, excuses and blame. If they are defining with the right emotions, they will seek the lessons and the insights they need to move forward.
This persistence to be consistent requires resilience. Resilience is self-trust demonstrated through self-belief, which creates behavior designed to push you forward. The test of your personal confidence is expressed through how you handle life’s knockdowns.
It also demands a strong sense of commitment to what you are doing. It is much easier to start anything than it is to complete it. Starting just takes a burst of energy; to complete the journey takes a strong commitment and belief in what you have chosen to do. Don’t ever forget that anything you start, but don’t complete has continuance in your life. These stacks of clutter will destroy your ability to maintain focus.
It also requires integrity. If you don’t mean what you say, don’t say it. If you aren’t going to complete what you start, don’t start it. If you aren’t committed to what you are doing, walk away. Integrity is truth defined by behavior.
The persistence to be consistent is about strong faith. So many people get down on self when things don’t go the way they wanted them to go. Many walk away because they can’t see beyond their lack of personal trust. You have to have a strong faith in yourself; you have to have a strong faith in your ability to get beyond the giants that will stand in front of you. You have to have a strong faith in who you are. Without that, you will see a knockdown as a knockout, rather than a test of personal resolve.
It also requires truth. If you don’t believe you can, then starting with a commitment to succeed is actually a lie. Truth is the result of personal belief. Anything you attempt that you don’t believe you can achieve is a lie that will catch up with you and knock you down. Face yourself with honesty and know who you are and then you will know what you can do.
The persistence to be consistent takes education. When you stop learning, you start justifying what is not happening. Learning is a lifetime, not a diploma. It is not about what you read or hear; it is all about what you are willing to implement. Education is the constant stretching of your mind in order to allow your imagination to paint pictures of possibility.
It will also require narrowing your sight plan. Many of the walls I have watched people run into were the result of a picture that was too large to manage. I am not talking about thinking small; I am talking about thinking realistically. If you can’t manage the terrain, at some point you will find yourself lost in the desert of uncertainty.
The persistence to be consistent is about calm intensity. It is about believing in your dream and your ability to achieve it. That means being calm about what you are doing and at the same time intense about achieving it. Together these two create a defense that life’s knockout punches can’t penetrate.
The last thing it requires is an entrepreneurial spirit. No aspect of our society is growing faster than the rise of home-based businesses. Millions have grown tired of the lack of care from corporate America, have taken the early buy-outs and ventured into their own business. The reality is — many people start, but few make it. Why? Most lack the discipline to be persistent with their consistency. They come from a world where they have been directed into a world that demands direction. When they are no longer being directed, they can’t step up and create the plan that gives them direction. They turn to those who gave them the home based possibility, but most are too busy selling the next entrepreneur. Therefore, they are lacking the discipline to continue with a focus and without someone to direct them, they are lost, scattered and lacking the persistent consistency necessary to build their business. This kills their excitement, makes them doubt their decision and leaves them confused and frustrated. That becomes their death march.
Isn’t it tragic to see the numbers of people who have started a journey filled with excitement that died because it never matured into enthusiasm? If they could have only understood the persistence to be consistent, they would be living their dream. Oh well, maybe now they will.
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