I used to think I had a consistency problem - that I couldn’t stick to doing anything I wanted to regularly for long periods of time. Of course, I’m highly consistent when it comes to checking my phone, or brushing my teeth, or talking to certain people every day. I’m not talking about the easy stuff with an instant reward. I wanted to figure out a way to be consistent at things that were harder, but came with a more long term benefit. I wanted to exercise, read and practice the guitar every day. I desperately wanted the results that came with long-term consistency in these areas, but maintaining consistency in things that aren’t automatic or require an effort proved to be incredibly difficult.

I found out quickly that “motivation” doesn’t really get you anywhere. It’s enormously difficult to sustain, and willpower is like a muscle which tires after excessive use. There’s no way to become a consistent exerciser, reader, writer, guitar player, etc., for years and years of time on just flimsy motivation. Motivation happens when you focus on the results, and this can be a cause of enormous discouragement with time. The best results take a while to obtain, and they often come too slowly for motivation to keep you going. When I wasn’t feeling motivated, I would skip a day and feel even worse. As these incidences would repeat, stress and frustration would set in.

An interesting thing I learned from James Clear’s Atomic Habits is that habits are about identity. We are all consistent creatures, but consistent in behaviours that tie us to our identity, or the picture we have of ourselves. In order to change these habits it’s important to change that identity - if I want to exercise regularly, I need to believe I am a runner, or a regular gym-goer. In order to write consistently, I need to make myself believe I am a writer - not just someone trying to write every day. Clear mentions that the more pride you have in a certain part of your identity, the more consistently you will practice the habits surrounding it. It would be way easier for someone to work out every day if they had abs they were really proud of and wanted to maintain. Or for another example, I listen to more music on a daily basis than many of my peers because I take pride in my music taste and I consider it to be a big part of who I am.

Making yourself believe in a new identity is non-trivial, and it doesn’t happen internally. Identity reinforcement happens through action - we are consistent with certain habits, they reinforce a certain view of ourselves to ourselves, and this furthers the consistency. It’s unlikely that a single iteration of an action will change your self-image, but as you act on a habit multiple times, the evidence of this new identity builds. A few failures along the way don’t really stand out against a lot of accumulated proof.

I know what I just mentioned feels like a catch-22. The secret to long-term consistency is a change of identity - but the identity change requires you to be consistent for a certain period of time, so what’s the point? For me, the point is the change in perspective this idea brought me. I just think this is a way healthier and more positive way to think about consistency and habit formation. It wipes away all the insecurities and fears you may have as you try to be consistent and purges any unhelpful thoughts that anxiously measure where you are with respect to your goal. It makes the process of consistency about influencing the definition of yourself you have in your brain - and this is something you always feel encouraged to do. It’s a long-term outlook, and it’s way less punishing than beating yourself up every time you fail, or don’t follow through for one odd day.

To emphasize this point, Clear recommends a strategy later on in the book where you do the actions associated with the habits you want to build for just two minutes every day. If you want to become a consistent reader, read for two minutes per day. For me, it would be getting out my guitar to practice every day, but only doing so for two minutes. His point is clear - your agenda is just to add more evidence, nothing more, nothing less. Of course, once you get started it’s easier to keep going, so you may end up reading for 10 minutes. But that’s not the point, and this removal of expectation is hugely liberating.

Now every day when I exercise, I’m no longer discouraged if I can’t push myself harder than the day before. It makes no sense to be upset if I miss out on a day, because I know I’ll pick it up from tomorrow. I’m someone who exercises regularly no matter the outcome, so whatever progress I lose I can make up for later. Exercise is no longer stressful, it’s enjoyable. In the end, I’m a lot happier and healthier for it.