By: Alex Woeste

With any successful businessperson, professional athlete or on-the-job all-star comes one simple philosophy: “consistency is key”. I know you’ve heard this over and over again, but simply being consistent and showing up each and every day makes a difference!

• Want to have a better relationship with your spouse? Consistently pursue personal time together.
• Want better results in the gym? Show up consistently.
• Want to stay on track with learning new things every day? Consistently read or seek out new knowledge from blogs and professionals.
• Want to be the best athlete on the field? Practice every day.

All of those examples are quick snippets of consistency, but I am going to further dive into how to be consistent – more specifically for seeing physical results from your workouts!

7 steps to help you stay consistent:

1. Focus on the day to day – sometimes starting a new challenge or developing new habits is overwhelming and stressful. Each day will bring a new struggle or victory, so each day should be considered a separate step in the process. Taking it day by day can remove stress and break things apart so it seems less intimidating.
   
   
2. Develop and stick to a program – sticking to a program leaves is no room for guessing what you’ll being doing each day. Having a day-by-day plan allows you to mentally separate each day, leaves us no room for excuses, and builds you up to tougher exercises/movements. When choosing a program that’s right for you, make sure it aligns with your goals and is difficult but achievable. Along with a workout program, you should also develop a meal plan to help achieve your goals. Your results come from 2 different sources – 80% is based on your diet and 20% is based on your fitness activities. If you don’t enjoy cooking or are unsure of where to start, we would recommend using a meal prep company!
   
   
3. Create accountability – whether it be recruiting your friend who will provide honest feedback, getting a trainer, or posting on social media, a great way to stay consistent is by creating accountability. Find someone who will check in with you and have tough conversations when necessary.
   
   
4. Implement fitness into your time budget – find a set time or class that you will attend each time you work out. If you know that you have to set aside 1 hour to work on your physical appearance before work, why would you also not set aside 1 hour for investing in your mental/physical health?
   
   
5. Turn excuses into opportunities – we’ve all had days we “don’t have time to go to the gym”, instead change that idea to a positive statement such as “I get to make time to go to the gym today”. Changing “don’t” or “can’t” statements into a more positive form serves as affirmations and thus will inspire you to want to work towards your goals.
   
   
6. Set a long-term plan – by setting a long-term plan you create the steps and milestones necessary to stay on track. Once you finish one program, have another lined up. This will keep things fresh and exciting and help you stay on track rather than going back to old habits. Adjusting your diet and workouts over time is necessary to get improved results, so having plans for both is a must. If your results are starting to shift we recommend finding a trainer or using a meal prep company to take you back in the right direction!
   
   
7. Schedule check-ins – make sure you set aside time daily, weekly, or monthly to check in with yourself and see how your goals are coming along. This could be done through journaling, progress photos/body measurements, or even logging to see how your lifts have increased over time!

After a few weeks of consistency (both in terms of your exercise and diet), you will see results and want to keep going in that direction. Most people who inherit one healthy habit in their life, in turn, start to adjust their other habits to follow suit.

I think one of the most difficult things that comes with small steps and consistently doing something is waiting for the results you want to see. As humans – it’s our nature to want instant gratification.

Whatever your goals may be – it takes consistent time and effort to see the results you want. So, keep pushing, and you will see them in no time!