Fill The Gaps, Get Rid of The Inconsistency

Starting something, diving in full of enthusiasm, just to abandon it a week later and start all over again. Sound familiar? Everyone has done it at least a couple of times, but for millions of people around the globe, this is a regular occurrence in many aspects of their lives. Inconsistency may seem like a minor problem compared to many of the other, more obvious, hurdles we face, however, it can often prove to be at the core of a significant number of them. rnInconsistency is among the biggest culprits of wasting human potential. rnIt doesn't matter whether we are talking about learning goals, career growth, or business development, the results of inconsistency are the same - underachievement. Usually, this unpleasant character trait kicks in when the activity we’re working on is not giving us instant gratification or the results we have been expecting. Imagine a generally inconsistent person starting on the road to learning a foreign language. She starts to attend classes and step by step her knowledge increases, but the process requires time and dedication. At some point, her free time shrinks significantly, and she decides to take a short pause from her studies. However, the pause turns into a long break and eventually, months later, when she goes back to learning the language, a big part of the knowledge she had accumulated prior is gone. rnDissonance & wishful thinking about following through often lead to disappointment. rnAmong the most common factors which contribute to developing inconsistency as a trait of our character is the gap between what we want to believe and our typical actions. When things do not go our way or situations change in our lives, we experience what is known as “dissonance.” The word dissonance is simply a technical term for the cognitive, emotional, physiological, and behavioral state that arises when things do not go the way we expect them to. The cognitive dissonance theory was developed in 1957 by the American psychologist Leon Festinger. According to him, we all recognize, at some level, when we are acting in a way that is inconsistent with our beliefs, attitudes or opinions. In effect, there is a built-in alarm that goes off when we notice such an inconsistency, whether we like it or not. For example, if a student has a belief that it is wrong to cheat, yet finds herself cheating on a test, she will notice and be affected by this inconsistency. rnAnother factor that creates inconsistency is the absonant approach towards reaching our goals or simply put - wishful thinking. This phenomenon refers to the desire to achieve something but either expecting it to happen by itself or acting without much consideration for the goal. A great example of this is when a university student gets determined to receive high grades at the end of the semester, but skips class regularly or does not attend at all. Unsurprisingly, the results of the exams are far from what they might have hoped for. rnLack of motivation as a result of dissonance contributes to the absence of consistency as well. When there is no clear goal at the end of the road, it is very easy to stray from it, especially if the activity is not bringing any instant satisfaction.rnA person can’t be consistent when she or he loses interest in the task at hand. In many examples, this happens due to an unexpected outcome. Usually, it is negative and causes disappointment as well as the total abandonment of the pursuit of the goal. rnInconsistency is typical of young people. rnAlthough there is no age at which a person starts or stops acting inconsistently, young people are typically more likely to act against their beliefs and goals. This can be explained by the fact that they lack experience and have yet to develop their ability to focus their energy. When young people are tempted to go off the path they are trying to follow, the chance to give in is higher. A research (http://www.economics-ejournal.org/economics/discussionpapers/2015-19/file) done by the Department of Economics of Ohio University studying the inconsistency among emerging adults (21-30 years old) shows that members of generation Y have a lack of organizational loyalty and a short term goal focus. According to the research, emerging adults in their 20’s and 30’s have 40% less real accrued wealth than their parents did at the same age, despite the fact that income has increased significantly in the past 25 years. The people in this age group prefer instant gratification rather than the long-term investment of time and effort. rnInconsistency may not always be a catastrophic thing. rnIt is no surprise that young people are more apt to explore many options at once. They are in a period during which they are supposed to experiment in order to find their calling, and focusing on a single thing too early may do more damage than good in the long run. Such recurring experimentation becomes an obstacle instead of an asset when inconsistency begins to define the character of a person later in life, instead of their disposition in a period of their development. rnInconsistency can be perceived as a series of potholes on the road to our goals and each instance of it has the potential to drive us off the path. rnThere is not a single person who has reached high levels of productivity (https://kanbanize.com/blog/5-ways-to-be-highly-productive-kanban-style/) thus achieving success, and will forget to point out consistency as one of the major elements of their process. It’s only that they call it “sticking to it” and add it to their habits and routines. rnHabits are a significant part of our way of life. When we do a certain thing a thousand times it becomes an action, performed unconsciously, because it fuses with our routines. In order to remove the inconsistency, in the long run, we just have to turn the activity we wish to be consistent with into a routine. According to a study (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejsp.674/abstract) by Phillippa Lally of University College London, it takes between 18 days to 254 days to turn any individual action into a habit. In the example of someone who wants to improve her knowledge of the English language, it would mean starting to read and write in English for an hour every evening before going to sleep. At first, there may be inner resistance, caused by the desires of her subconsciousness, but if she has enough willpower, these inclinations will start to come more rarely and eventually disappear completely. rnIn order to make the process of building consistency smoother, a person needs to visualize the goal clearly. By doing this it will be easier to identify potential setbacks and have enough time to analyze and consider possible solutions to the hurdles that come hand in hand with them. Eventually, if the setbacks occur, they will bring less stress and frustration and will have a worse chance to break our consistency. rnLast but not least, planning in detail how to achieve the desired result and tracking the progress will make it harder to go off course, especially if potential hurdles are identified and given though on how to be tackled. rnInconsistency can get in the way of achieving our dreams. Some lucky people have the rare ability to be consistent in everything they do, but the rest of us must look for a way to become like them. There isn’t one unique way to deal with inconsistency, but the above-mentioned techniques are easy to apply and can do miracles for those who would like a positive change in their way of performing in every aspect of life.