Lifestyle – July 24, 2023 – Everyone talks about building consistency, staying consistent, showing up for yourself, showing up for your habits and routines, showing up for your future self. But no one is talking about how to build consistency, so I’m going to show you how!
You know that feeling when you feel on top of the world, you’re in your groove, & nailing all of your habits and routines that you have been striving for? Then boom life throws a curveball at you and it feels as if you’ve hit this blockade that’s holding you back from progressing.
What you need is an accountability loop. The circle shown here is not a perfect circle because we’re humans and we’re not perfect either! I want you to think of yourself as the green arrows that are going around this circle. This is when you’re in that groove & super consistent with your habits & routines you have in place. 
The red X’s along the circle are the breaks in your habit. This is when something or someone throws you off your routine or when an obstacle has presented itself. This could be getting sick, feeling exhausted, work picking up, traveling & events taking place or even family emergencies.
The biggest piece you may be missing in building consistency is your yellow dot. Your yellow dot is your accountability method and this is what keeps you or gets you back on track. This can be a person, an action or a method that holds you accountable to following through on your goals. Think of this as the alarm titled on your phone “get up it’s time to work out” or blocked out space in your calendar for healthy nutritious meal prepping and grocery shopping on Sundays.
Your yellow dot can also be a person, such as your spouse, a loved one, a best friend, or a coach–somebody that you can rely on to pull you out of the depths of that red X that is blocking you from staying consistent on your habits and routines and reaching the goals that you have. For example, maybe you want to start implementing a new nighttime routine including evening stretching before bed. Your yellow dot could be a partner that you do your evening stretches with side by side or even remotely. You have that accountability partner to keep you going and make sure you both stay on track.
Your accountability method can also be in the form of what I like to call, a habit triangle. This is creating a system around 3 key actions:
- something that you have to do within your day, or a habit that you already have set in place,
- your new habit of focus, and
- something you look forward to doing or love to do.
For example, let’s build that evening stretching nighttime routine (on your own) with this habit triangle theory.
Let’s say that these are your 3 key actions within your nighttime routine:
- something you have to do/habit you already have: brushing your teeth before
- [new habit]: 10 mins of evening stretching
- something you look forward to doing or enjoy: reading a few pages before bed or doing your evening scroll
Follow the outline in the figure shown here of the habit triangle and link these actions together in that specific order, so your new habit is sandwiched between the action you already do and the action you love to do.
So in between brushing your teeth (your cue) and reading or scrolling before bed (reward), you are going to do your 10 mins of stretching (new habit). You’re going to brush your teeth, do your 10 minutes of stretching, and you get your reward for your evening scroll or reading a few pages before bed.
You can apply the same habit sandwiching principle to any type of new habit you are seeking to implement into your routine.
Remember that no days are 100% perfect and that unexpected events come up often. Notice that in this figure there are always breaks in the chain. This is life. You’re going to have your ups and downs, highs and lows and times where you just need a break or a reset to get you back in your groove.
I want you to think about what or who or how you are implementing the yellow dots in your life and how you can use the habit triangle to establish a new routine and maintain consistency.
To walk through this process with me in my client proved, step-by-step method, download my Mindset & Habit Development workbook HERE for free using code “SIERRAREC” at checkout!
See you inside the workbook!
