January 9, 2025

At some point in your life, you’ve probably set out to start (or change) a habit in order to reach a goal. Exercise more. Eat better. Save money. The advice is always the same: be consistent. Keep doing it, and eventually, you’ll get there.

That same mindset shows up constantly in business.

As business owners and managers, we spend an incredible amount of time thinking, planning, implementing, and reaching for new goals. Sometimes we’re responding to a problem and making changes to prevent it from happening again. Other times, we’re simply trying to improve efficiency or do things better. Either way, we’re constantly creating or modifying processes and habits to pursue those goals.

And again, we hear the same thing: consistency is key, right?

There are countless resources, studies, and frameworks designed to help us make “good decisions” in business (and in life). But then… life happens. No resource can fully prepare you for the curveballs that derail even the best-laid plans. Suddenly, you’re forced to make fast decisions based on what you know, hoping to avoid a catastrophic outcome.

At that point, the question often shifts from “What is the right decision?” to “Was that the right decision?”

Sometimes our plans don’t fail because they were bad decisions; they fail because consistency breaks down.

You start with good intentions. You try to implement change. And then life intervenes. Or you fall back into old habits. I know for me, both of those things have been true.

Take something simple like social media. I’ve set goals to create daily morning posts for my business. And then… three months go by. Maybe I managed it for a week. Maybe two. But eventually, I fell off the wagon.

Why?
First, because every morning I walk into work putting out fires.
Second, because it’s a new habit, and new habits are easy to forget.

Cue the internal narrative: “I failed.”

But did I?

In my opinion, I made a decision. I tried something. And life derailed me. That isn’t failure, it just means it didn’t work that way. The decision did not align with the goal, given the ever-changing nature of life.

The real key isn’t just consistency in doing the thing. It’s the consistency in TRYING AGAIN.

That means dusting yourself off when you fall down and continuing forward. It means reevaluating the goal and adjusting the actions needed to reach it. Maybe daily social media posts aren’t realistic right now. Maybe a weekly, or even monthly, post in the afternoon makes more sense.

The goal is still being met: I’m connecting with clients. The frequency might not be where I want it yet, but that’s something I can work toward once I figure out what actually fits my reality.

Consistency doesn’t mean doing it perfectly every time.
It means showing up, reassessing, and continuing, even after you fall.

Lastly, Happy New Year to everyone. And if you set New Year goals and find yourself falling off the wagon by February, don’t give up, just modify what you’re doing to reach them. Adjust the plan, not the dream.

Keep dreaming, keep learning, and keep moving forward consistently.