How To Be Consistent: 11 Ways To Actually Stick To Things

Here are 11 unbeatable ways to be consistent with your goals, habits, and routines, no matter how challenging they might be.

If you’ve ever set a goal, got super pumped about it, and then completely dropped the ball a week later, welcome to the club.

You’re not the first person who struggles with consistency. It can happen to the most productive people.

But of course, that doesn’t mean you let it slide, because consistency is kinda everything in today’s world.

Be it for your fitness, career, personal growth, and even your relationships, you need to be consistent to improve things and ultimately make them beautiful and strong.

Consistency is what separates the dreamers from the doers.

It’s the magic ingredient that turns a hobby into a skill, a goal into an achievement, and a routine into a lifestyle.

So, if you’re tired of starting over and want to finally make consistency your superpower, then this post is for you.

Let’s dive into the real, raw, and actually doable ways to stick to things for the long haul:

11 Awesome Ways To Be More Consistent

1. Stop Waiting for Motivation

I love my phases of high motivation, but this thing can be flaky.

One day motivation is your best friend, and the next day it’s nowhere to be found.

So, we just can’t rely on motivation to stay consistent, because it’s based on how you feel. And as we all know, feelings are unpredictable.

So, what do we do then?

Well, instead of waiting for motivation, we build discipline.

Discipline just means showing up even when you don’t feel like it.

The more you do something, the easier it gets. And before you know it, it becomes a habit that doesn’t require motivation at all.

2. Make It Stupidly Easy to Start

If your goals feel overwhelming, then of course you won’t be consistent.

I have realized that the trick to getting yourself to stick to something is to lower the barrier to entry.

In simple words, make it stupidly easy to start with the habit in your initial days.

If you want to work out every day, then start with just 5 minutes. If you want to read more, then commit to one page a day. If you want to journal, then write a single sentence.

Once you start, momentum kicks in, and you’ll likely do more than you planned. But even if you don’t, you’re still showing up, and that’s what builds consistency.

3. Make It A Non-Negotiable Habit

There are things in your life you do every single day without thinking, like brushing your teeth, checking your phone, and making coffee.

Why? Because they’re non-negotiable habits for you.

If you want to be consistent, then your goal needs to be treated the same way as a non-negotiable.

Make it part of your identity by telling yourself things like:

“I am someone who moves my body every day.”
“I am a person who writes daily.”
“I never go to bed without reading at least one page.”

When something is part of who you are, skipping it feels weird. And that’s the key to consistency.

4. Track Your Progress

There’s nothing more satisfying than checking things off a list. Seriously!

Seeing your progress makes you want to keep going, and that’s why habit tracking works so well.

It’s something I highly recommend you do if you want to be consistent all your life.

You can use a habit tracker, a journal, or a simple calendar to track your habits.

Every day you complete your habit, mark it off. Aim to keep the streak going as long as possible.

And please remember, if you miss a day, don’t miss two. Life happens, but skipping two days in a row makes it way harder to get back on track.

5. Plan for the ‘I Don’t Wanna’ Days

Some days, you just won’t feel like it. You’ll be tired, busy, or in a bad mood.

Motivation might be far out of your reach, discipline might be sleeping, and you just won’t be able to get yourself to care.

That’s when you need a bare minimum plan.

Instead of skipping your workout, do one push-up. Instead of skipping your writing, jot down one sentence. Instead of skipping your reading, read one paragraph.

This keeps the habit alive, so you don’t have to start over later. And often, you’d find yourself doing more than the bare minimum. So, it’s an awesome trick.

Small effort beats no effort!

6. Schedule Your Tasks

Willpower is like a battery. It drains throughout the day.

That’s why making decisions over and over again (“Should I work out today? Should I write today?”) is exhausting.

The fix for this is to remove the decision-making.

Make your habits automatic by scheduling them into your day.

If you work out every morning at 7 AM, there’s no internal debate; it’s just what you do.

Scheduling your most important tasks is hands-down the best way to beat procrastination and stay consistent

I have days when I plan the whole day, but for the most part, I just stick to planning my priorities to avoid exhaustion and to keep life more flowy.

7. Make It More Fun

Many people who struggle with consistency see it as a type of suffering, and I totally get why.

If you have to do something day in and out, no matter how much you love the task or how much you benefit from it, you will come to dread it.

And when you hate your routine, you won’t stick to it. But who says it has to be boring at all?

You can always find ways to make it more enjoyable.

Like, if you hate running but really need to shed those extra pounds, then you can try dance workouts.

If you struggle with journaling, then use voice notes instead. It works just as fine. And if you can’t focus on reading, then listen to audiobooks.

Play fun music in the house while doing laundry and other daily chores. This is how you make staying consistent more interesting.

If you look forward to something, staying consistent becomes ten times easier.

8. Surround Yourself with Accountability

Being consistent is easier when someone’s watching you. No, I don’t mean a stalker.

I mean an accountability partner, a support group, or maybe a public commitment to your goal.

Here are ways of how you can find accountability:

Tell a friend your goal and share your progress every week.
Join an online challenge.
Announce your plans on social media (peer pressure works).

When others expect you to show up, you’re more likely to do it.

9. Remember Your ‘Why’

There will be days when you want to quit. When that happens, remind yourself why you started.

This may sound like such a cliche trick, but it actually works when you do it.

If you started writing daily because of your dream of publishing a book, then remind yourself of it when you are stuck in writer’s block.

If you are saving money to travel the world, then remind yourself of it when the urge to spend on unnecessary things pops up.

If you started working out to feel more confident in your body, then remind yourself of it on your lazy days.

Reconnect with your deepest reason, and you’ll find the strength to keep going.

10. Accept That Progress is Messy

Consistency may seem like being perfect almost, but that’s not the case.

You will mess up along the way. You will have off days. And that’s perfectly okay.

But as long as you keep moving forward, you keep winning.

Just don’t let one bad day turn into a bad week. Get back on track, and try your best to keep moving forward.

Slow progress is better than no progress.

11. Be Patient

The hardest part of being consistent is not seeing instant results.

It’s frustrating, I know. But real change takes time, sometimes more than you may like.

If you stick with something for a month, two months, a year—you will see the impact. There is no other possibility here.

The people who succeed aren’t the most talented or lucky. They’re the ones who simply didn’t quit.

So, keep showing up. Even when it’s hard. Even when it’s boring. Even when you don’t feel like it.

Because one day, you’ll look back and realize—this is how you became unstoppable. And it’ll be the best feeling in the world.

Okay, now here are some tips on how to actually cultivate this patience in yourself:

Meditate for 10 minutes every day, before bed or in the morning
Read inspiring books that prompt you to keep going
Do deep breathing whenever things feel overwhelming or even boring
Make time for leisure activities with friends and by yourself
Take short breaks throughout the day to recharge yourself

Consistency Is Everything!

Okay, so that’s it!

I want to wrap up by reminding you that consistency is the secret weapon that will change your life. I hope you’re ready to bring it to your life.

Now tell me—what’s the one thing you’re going to stay consistent with starting today? Drop it in the comments and let’s make it happen!