By Dawn Onley

Consistency makes the difference.

Consistency over the long haul enables us to save just enough money in the bank to buy a home. When we consistently eat healthy, it’s possible to whittle our waist line down a few inches to get us back in those jeans that we wore a decade ago. Consistency pays off when you least expect, even in those moments at the kitchen table teaching your toddler a new word or how to count.

It’s never the things we do once in a blue moon or when the mood strikes that yield the greatest reward. It’s the grunt work that is done by routine or through diligence, that may not seem like a lot from day to day, but after awhile, those little moves add up to huge results.

It’s forcing myself to write each day, even when I don’t have much to say. It’s reading a few chapters of a book each night until the book is completed. It’s doing away with soda and potato chips to reach a fitness goal. It’s practicing an instrument a little bit each day, until you can play the song flawlessly.

It’s also keeping our energy levels and enthusiasm up or we will lose the motivation to stay consistent. It’s the fervent prayers of the righteous that availeth much, according to the Bible.

It’s the old adage: if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

There is probably not a single attribute one person can possess that is as important to achieving success or getting results as consistency. As the saying goes, if you are persistent, you will get it. If you are consistent, you will keep it.

“In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently,” said bestselling author, motivational speaker and life coach, Tony Robbins.

It takes discipline to be consistent. It also takes vision, courage, perseverance and delayed gratification. This last point is important because we are living in a time where everyone wants to see the end result pronto without putting in the effort. We want to lose weight fast, without changing how we eat and exercise. We want financial security, but can’t discipline ourselves enough to forego the $5.00 Starbucks run, 5 days a week. Students graduate college and immediately expect to get a job earning money that it took many people their whole adult life to attain.

In other words, we want to eat the elephant in one setting and when that proves impossible, we get frustrated and decide to dine on something different altogether.

Consistency is eating the elephant one bite at a time. It’s the way to hike mountains. It’s the way to conquer fears. It’s the way to build a nest egg. And it’s the way to realize our dreams.