Consistency Wins
I remember finishing John Wooden's book They Call Me Coach and feeling like it changed me. Although it is littered with golden nuggets of leadership philosophy and general life lessons, my favorite footnote from his story―who many argue is the greatest coach in any sport in history―is this:
John Wooden won ten national championships in a twelve-year period at UCLA. His first championship, however, came in his 16th season.
That means, he endured several years of "not good enough" and "better luck next year." But he stuck to the basics, persisted through trials, and rewrote history books.
Similarly, if a drug was developed that extended life by 14 years, that would be considered a huge medical breakthrough.
Yet people who...
*eat right
*exercise
*maintain normal body weight
*don't smoke
...live to about 90, which is 14 years longer than the average for American men.
You don’t need an extreme diet or crazy workout plan. Just be consistent and persistent. Your future self will be grateful!
We know that demonstrated consistency towards a vision is how you get places in life. Unfortunately, it takes time and few of us feel like we have enough time.
I'll wrap up here with an applicable excerpt from Jon Gordon's best-selling book The Carpenter that seems appropriate to summarize the winning concept of consistency:
"Anything worthwhile takes time to build. We all want success now, but that's not how success works. After all, if we had immediate success, we wouldn't build the character we need to sustain true success. The struggle, adversity, triumphs, and victories are all part of the building process, and we must embrace all of it."