How to Master Consistency to Achieve Your Goals

When my brother became a math teacher, he told me that there were three types of students in his class.

The first kind of student did less than 40% of the homework, crammed for the big test the week before, and ended up failing the test.

The second kind of student did about 60–80% of the homework, studied a bit for the big test, and ended up skating by with an average grade.

The third kind of student did 100% of the homework, didn’t study very much for the big test — and no matter what their ability or talent level — usually passed the test with a high B or better.

So what made the students who did 100% of the homework more successful when it finally came time for the test? It’s not that they were necessarily smarter or more talented…it’s that they didn’t see the homework as optional. By putting in a little bit of effort over an extended period of time, they saw better results.

That’s because nothing beats consistency. Nothing beats showing up everyday, doing the work, and putting in the time.

So if you want to achieve your goals, you have to master consistency. You have to see your goals as mandatory — not optional. And you have to do the “homework” for your goals in order to accomplish them.