You know that feeling. You start something new with all the motivation in the world. Maybe you decide to wake up early, start running, eat healthier, read more, or write every day.
Whatever it is, you are excited. You put in a massive effort. And you believe you can achieve anything. But then, life happens.
After a few days, you don’t see any real results. You start to lose hope. Your motivation fades away, and you just don’t feel like doing it anymore.
So, you skip one day, then another, and before you know it, the habit slips away.
Sound familiar? You’re not alone. I go through this all the time. We all struggle with consistency because it’s hard. It’s hard to keep putting in massive efforts day after day without seeing immediate rewards.
But there is a way to make it work. You can be consistent for years and be amazed by the results.
How? Simply make the routine easy. Reduce the effort you put in.
So, instead of taking massive actions when building a habit, start small and make it sustainable.
For example, if you want to build a reading habit, you might feel like reading 40 pages a day at first.
But don’t do that. That’s a lot of hard work. And if you are like me, you will exhaust yourself and quit within a week. The solution is to make it so easy you can’t say no- just read five pages a day.
I know, reading five pages seems insignificant. You might think that to make any real progress, you need to work harder, put in more hours, or push yourself to the limit. But that’s unsustainable. You can’t go far with that strategy.
The thing we often miss is that hard work alone doesn’t bring huge outcomes. Consistent work does.
“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”
― Vincent Van Gogh
Small actions done regularly over time can lead to tremendous results. It might take months or years, but if you’re patient, those small efforts will add up. Those hundreds or thousands of little actions will create something extraordinary.
For example, I wanted to build a workout habit to get fit. At first, I was motivated, so I worked out for 30–40 minutes a day. But after a week, I started avoiding it. Within a month, I found it funny that I had promised myself I’d do it every day.
I tried to stick with my workout routine many times, but I always ended up quitting. Then, I realized the key was to keep it small and simple.
So, I made it really small and simple- just nine minutes of exercise, six days a week. That’s it.
Now, it’s become so easy that I’ve been doing it for over seven months. Sure, there are days when I don’t feel like it, but since it’s only nine minutes, I always convince myself to get it done.
And I’m already seeing results. I’m fitter than ever, my body is more active, and I feel more confident. If I keep this up, I’m sure I’ll see even bigger changes in 2–3 years.
So, don’t chase after quick fixes. Because there aren’t any quick fixes. Almost all big, satisfying results take time. That’s how nature works. A massive banyan tree can survive any violent storm, but it grows slowly, taking several decades to reach its full size.
That’s why I like to take a lot of small, smart actions on a daily basis:
- Walking 2 km a day
- Meditating for 10 minutes
- Journaling for 10 minutes
- Writing 200 words for myself
- Learning a new skill for 20 minutes
They aren’t that hard. You can do them effortlessly without pushing yourself too far. And you won’t get any big outcomes in a week or month.
But if you do them consistently, you will significantly transform your life in 2–3 years. I am sure about that. Because consistency beats hard work.
“Little by little, a little becomes a lot.”
— Tanzanian Proverb