A Spinning Top That Stays In Place: When Consistency Fails Us
Offerings to The Spirit of Practice....
‘A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day.’ - Ralph Waldo Emerson
What is the point of being ‘consistent’?
Depending on who you ask, it may be heralded as the primary principle one requires to accomplish anything of note or progress in a chosen field.
While others may have opinions akin to this:
“Consistency is the hallmark of the unimaginative.”
―Oscar Wilde
As a practitioner, who has a wide variety of practices (some would say too many), who seeks to progress steadily in most of them, consistency is a principle I have danced with and studied for a long time.
It has annoyed me, aided me, challenged me, liberated me, given me a sense of ‘success’ and the feeling of ‘failure’…
There is no doubt that some kind of consistency is critical to excelling and improving anything over time. However, consistency on its own is actually not a magic carpet ride to the culmination of our desires, I mean plenty of people consistently get outcomes they do not want.
Wouldn’t it be great if it were that simple?
However, consistency on its own is not always enough when it comes to practice (there are some things consistency does very well, and we will discuss those later).
Why? Because consistency at the level of ‘human will’, is primarily a modulator and force multiplier. It is not necessarily an intelligent nuanced tool, and it is not a replacement for:
Where and why are we applying consistency…where is it taking us?
Consistency modulates how you engage with a practice because if you are going to be consistent, by default it has to be sustainable, and it is in sustaining something over long periods of time that you generate exponential results, and this is what makes it a force multiplier.
Consistency always generates results, but the kind of results you do get, are dependent on the original input.
‘It doesn't matter how hard you row. It matters which boat you get in.’ - Warren Buffett
I relate to consistency like a mason who concertizes whatever I give it, establishing a foundational platform to build on. The real question is ‘What am I building here’?
Consistency is easy to promote because it only requires force of will. Take the willingness to grind + some kind of repeatable action = an easy sell.
Marketers, influences and philosophers alike preach it like biblical doctrine: consistency, consistency, consistency…precisely because it is both important and makes sense to people once you get them passed an unwillingness to act (which of course is no small feat for people).
None of this is to criticize consistency or people who promote it. To be clear I promote it too, but not for its own sake. Consistency must be in service of more nuanced principles and aligned with a ‘deep desire’ to be truly useful.
I have myself have misapplied consistency many times, and will likely do so again in the future. Consistency can be exceedingly powerful when applied strategically, it is generally best to deploy consistency on a macro level, and not a micro level.
Macro Level = The only constant is change.
Micro Level = Insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting different results.
Catch the difference?
Both are expressions of consistency, yet one acts as a meta principle, and the other as a secular set of actions. Meditate on this.
Example: Consistency is not adaptable on its own unless you are ‘consistently adaptable’.
I invite you to consider:
If we want to maintain and stabilize, then consistency ‘can’ be enough on its own, but if we want progress, what is usually more helpful is to ‘consistently’ iterate, refine, and deepen our practices over time, while keeping the ship sailing towards a north star (this last point is crucial).
Ask yourself...
What is my consistency in service of?
What am I concretizing?
Is consistency on its own enough, or are more nuanced principles required?