9 Tools That’ll Help You Stay Consistent
You’re going to discover Component #6 of The Consistency System which is your Consistency Toolbox.
Willpower isn’t enough.
You stay consistent by using the Consistency Toolbox to help you stay focused and increase your productivity.
Here are 9 tools that’ll help you stay Consistent.
1) Journal
The most important tool is a journal that tracks your progress and increases awareness of how you’re doing.
There are five important purposes for your journal:
1. Plan your week
2. Plan your day
3. See how you’re doing in Consistency Huddles
4. Recap your day using the Daily EQ Quiz
5. Write down new ideas
You can use a physical notebook or a digital one. I recommend a digital notebook such as your phone’s notepad because it’s simple to use.
You’re always going to have your phone with you. Remember, the first step to being consistent is to make things simple and easy to do!
2) Calendar
Many people say I’m the most consistent and productive person they’ve ever met, and that’s because of how strict I am with my calendar.
Every hour of my life is basically blocked off in my calendar, whether it’s for business or family activities.
I also go to bed and get up at the same time every day and have a routine for everything.
All the activities in my life are scheduled, and I just go from one activity to another. There’s never a moment when I’m wondering what I should do next. Everything is planned out.
When people first hear about my calendar, they say that being a slave to your calendar is no fun and there’s no freedom.
But the opposite is true!
It’s a paradox, but living your life according to your calendar gives you freedom.
It allows you to get what you need to get done so that you have the time to do what you want.
3) Timer
The third most important tool that is related to the calendar is using a timer.
It keeps you on track and puts pressure on you to move faster.
If you want to be productive, every task must have an end time—even if your time block is as short as 10 minutes.
You definitely need to do this if you’re always “busy.”
Have an end time time is one of the 10 Rules of the Consistency Productivity Regimen.
I generally work in time blocks of 30 and 45 minutes when I have energy in the morning, and shorter blocks of time (10 or 15 minutes) when I’m tired in the afternoon.
We do best when we’re under pressure.
Remember when you were a student?
When did you write your term pa- pers? If you’re like most people, you got them done the night before, at the last minute!
4) Time Tracker
People who want to save money often start saving by tracking their expenses.
The same applies to those who want to save time. If you want to save time, you have to track it.
You don’t really know how you’re spending your time until you track it!
How and where are you spending your time?
5) Your Checklist
As you know, making a checklist of the things you have to do in order to achieve your goal is Component 1 of the Consistency System.
Having a checklist prevents you from forgetting the important things you have to do in order to reach your goal.
6) Prospect List
Sales and marketing are what keep your business alive, and that’s why you should always have a list of your prospects.
A prospect list reminds you that selling is the most important activity you should be doing, especially for any home business that earns less than $100,000 a year.
A home-based business can survive without systems (though it won’t be efficient or grow quickly) as long as it has new sales coming in. However, the opposite is not true.
Every business will die if it’s not selling every week.
You need a constant flow of new sales to give you the money for expenses and to build a team so that you eventually have the time to develop systems.
There are many ways to keep track of your prospects, from a simple notebook to digital options such as spreadsheets and apps.
7) Reading Apps
Continued personal development is very important, and I recommend making use of digital books on platforms such as Kindle or Apple’s Books app because they make it easy to read.
You’ll always have your books with you because you never leave home without your phone.
I’ve personally done tons of reading while I’m sitting in the car waiting for my boys to get off from school or when I’m at my barber.
Keeping your books on your phone also makes it easy to go back and review old books and your notes. Everything is in one place, so you never leave home without any books.
You can also read much more quickly on your phone because digital books make speed reading easier. You don’t have to deal with the physical page turning.
At first it may take you some time to get used to reading online, but once you get used to it, you’ll never go back.
8) Gamification
The next tool that’ll help you stay consistent is something that turns your effort into a fun game.
Use a tool that shows you how many consecutive days you’re working on an activity. Create a streak and gamify it.
An example is what Jerry Seinfeld, the comedian did. He would mark an “X” on his calendar every day he wrote a joke.
After a few days, it became a game, and he wanted to keep the streak of “X” going and not miss a day.
You can use a calendar or an app to do this.
One of the best apps I use is called “Streaks,” and it has even helped me overcome my sugar addiction.
9) Rewarding Activity
If you want to survive the entrepreneur roller-coaster, you have to learn to focus on activity instead of results. Results take time and it’s easy to get discouraged.
You stay motivated by rewarding your activity.
Let’s say you’ve been prospecting for three straight weeks and haven’t gotten a sale yet. You’ll get discouraged if you focus on the result, so focus on your activity instead.
You can gamify it and play the calendar game and mark an “X” for every day you send out five sales videos. After you have five “X’s” in a row, you can then reward yourself with a nice dinner or buy yourself a small toy.
All of a sudden, your attention is shifted to the rewards of activity and the business becomes more fun and less discouraging.
It’s important to keep yourself going because you’ll eventually get the results you want.
The Consistency System
Here’s a Summary of the 7 Components of The Consistency System
Component 1: Checklist
Component 2: Create and Schedule the Time
Component 3: Determine the Strategy
Component 4: Choose Your Environment
Component 5: Tracking
Component 6: Your Consistency Toolbox
Component 7: Accountability