Happy Sunday!
And welcome to today's edition of 'Conscious living with Purnima'. In today's post I will share with you the key to being consistent. Put it into action and see the magic work.
Before that, an announcement:
I have started another newsletter, 'Holistic Wellness with Purnima'. This is for:
A. My current clients that work with me to find a stress-free & sustainable path to better health and fitness
B. Prospective clients
C. Anyone interested to know more about the work that I do with my clients
I will be doing posts connected with the program I run, women's health, client stories, titbits on health, fitness, nutrition, & other wellness practices, discussions on fads and larger issues of contributing towards health equity et al. If any of that interests you, then subscribe from the homepage of this newsletter. As I grow my business and reach out to a wider audience I thought it would be a good idea to start documenting my work.
And now, over to today's post.
A little bit of a flashback:
In my younger days, I always desired to start my day early. I was inspired by Robin Sharma & the 5 am club. Even though I had good intentions, I could not sustain my efforts.
Fast forward to now, there is no question of not waking up early. I have to pack two school tiffin dabbas for my daughter and then show up for my clients. I need no inspiration from Robin Sharma to be up & running.
So, in this instance the 'why of waking up' just got stronger. Enabling me to easily achieve my goal of starting the day early.
What you can learn from this is that achieving a goal becomes effortless when the why is strong. You most likely already know that.
But what you consciously need to do is find creative ways of making yourself accountable to that which matters to you. And this is because life is not always going to shape up in ways that make goals achievable for you. You will need to step in. Here are some suggestions:
- If you want to become fit, then hire a trainer or enroll for a fitness class. Consider paying a premium for it. Because when you do, you are consciously making your why stronger
- If you have been dabbling with the idea of honing your writing skills, then start a newsletter, like me. Once you have a few regular readers, they will drive you to write consistently & over time, your writing skills will improve
- If you want to read more books in a year then don't just desire. Join a book club or create a group with people equally invested in reading and schedule dates to discuss ideas and share thoughts
You get the gist? Essentially, pay attention to habits you long to cultivate but are unable to sustain. The reason could be:
A. You don't have a strong accountability system in place. If you have an accountability system but still continue to slip, then know that the system is weak/ not good enough
B. The goal/ habit you desire is not relevant to your current stage of life
Be honest with yourself as awareness is key to change. And as Richard Feynman, the Nobel prize winning Physicist said, “You must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.”
I will conclude this post with an excerpt from a book I am re-reading - 'I am that' talks with Sri Nissargatta Maharaj. In one place the questioner asks Sri Nissargatta,
Q1. Please tell me which road to self-realization is the shortest?
For which Sri Nissargatta says, “no way is short or long, but some people are more in earnest, and some are less. You may choose any way that suits you; your earnestness will determine the rate of progress.”
This great saint achieved self-realization in 3 years. He was clearly earnest.
While here the conversation is about self-realization, the same idea can be applied to just about any other life goal. To be consistent you got to be earnest, and you can create that earnestness by making yourself strongly accountable.
Today, I invite you to take some time to reflect on some of your own goals that you know in your heart are important but are fumbling to consistently pursue. See if you can uncover the reason and find creative ways of increasing your accountability to them.
Good article! Puri