One Reason People Aren’t As Consistent As They Want To Be (2007)

Not every day you wake up in the same place , maybe you go to work in a different place , maybe you travel , maybe you work different schedules . If you don't have flexibility and if you don't have adaptability , it's going to be close to impossible for you to stay consistent .

But it's really important to stay consistent and keep the small promises you make to yourself . So you need to have self-discipline and willpower on one hand , but you also have to design your environment on the other , to make sure that it supports your goals and dreams .

Welcome back to another episode of Next Level University where we help you level up your life , your love , your health and your wealth . Today for episode number 2007, . One reason people aren't as consistent as they want to be , as you heard in the open , there we are talking about flexibility and adaptability .

So , alan , I think we co-created , but I think you kind of led the charge on it . There's the consistency star . Amy loves it . It's like her favorite asset to use when she's doing the group coaching calls .

And one of the things on there that I think would probably get overlooked a lot , definitely by me in the past , is adaptability and what I kind of lot for work . It was way harder to stay consistent in the gym because I didn't have any of the normal stuff . I wasn't in a place where I knew what the gym was like .

I didn't know the hours of the gym , I didn't know what it was like , I didn't know if you could bring bags in or not . I mean , there was a lot of kind of pain in the butt to get to the gym , kind of pain in the butt to get to the gym . Now , one way to fix that was have an anytime fitness membership so you can look it up . It's easy .

You know your key fob will get you into almost any gym . But most of the people I worked with they had like an on-off switch . When they were home they would eat well and they would exercise , but when they were on the road , all of that went to shit , and it's because there wasn't a level of adaptability and there wasn't a level of flexibility .

And I said this to you before we did the episode . I said I feel like that's kind of a common thing . It's either you're all on or you're all off , and there's something to that . I mean , maybe that would be another .

There's only five points of the star for the consistency star , but having an all or nothing mentality , I think , is a really dangerous thing to have if you're trying to be more consistent . I went to some gyms that sucked and it was like , well , this workout's better than nothing .

I went to some really nice gyms too , but you never know , and I never knew what I was going to get until I showed up . So I think that's an important thing to talk about when it comes to consistency .

Some days are good , some days not so good in comparison , and I'll look at my calendar and I'll say , okay , there's three or four things on there . It's like , wow , that was kind of a slow day . I didn't put a ton on the court today . But then I think to myself and I go well , that's four times as much as I used to do 10 years ago ago .

The other piece of this , too , is consistency . At this stage , for you and I comes so naturally , I feel like it's challenging for me to understand what it used to be like . You and I used to talk about the five second rule . We used to . I talked about this on a recent episode . There was a podcast host that had researched a lot .

I always love when they research a lot . I really appreciate it and they said oh , so you guys are super disciplined and super consistent . That's what you guys stand for . I remember thinking , okay , sure , I guess , but I don't know why that is necessarily .

I don't feel like it's not , like we just woke up and we're suddenly super consistent , and I also thought about this recently too . That's step one , kind of in business in particular Again .

So , kevin and I are leaning into what is your own unique version of success , health , wealth and love , and how do you improve yourself to achieve those goals and dreams at NLU , but also in our own life ? And I'm looking at the consistency star right here that you had mentioned .

The first one is self-belief , the second one is humility , the third one is sustainability , the fourth is adaptability , the fifth one is grit . And when you say adaptability , flexibility , that's actually one of my client's most important skills for this quarter .

And when you say adaptability , flexibility , that's actually one of my client's most important skills for this quarter . And she's been way more consistent ever since . That was the case because we looked at this consistency star and it was like , okay , which one of these do you struggle with most ? At first it was humility .

We worked on that , and then it was adaptability . What does adaptability even mean ? It doesn't have to be perfect .

I was either working in Virginia or New Jersey , so it was either like six hours away from home or 12 hours . I think I was eating my rice with a chicken tender because I didn't have a spoon .

Perfect , but , but essentially the . So it's . One of our clients showed up to iron . He said , hey , I have a men's group and every month we have a topic . And I I mean you are obviously super consistent . I'd love to have you talk about consistency . What do you think ? And I said , yeah , let me , I'll send you an audio of what I'm thinking .

I'll do like a canva presentation . If it's aligned , let me know , but I'll send it over to you so you can hear the ideas . And I was like , all right , well , I don't know . I think the thing that would probably make the most sense is to start at the identity level of why isn't the person consistent in the first place ?

Okay , that sounds , that sounds good , cool . So we'll talk about that . Do you identify as consistent ? yes , yeah yeah , which is helpful yeah that identity piece . It's hard to I . Yes , yeah , yes , I definitely feel I feel like very , very , a very , very consistent human . Yeah , but that's been the .

I mean , that's been the main thing over the last eight years .

What are the three most important things for that Improvement ? What are the three most important things for that improvement ? What are the three most important things for that ? And then each of those will have its own kind of segment , and there's a couple , there's a couple other how long is the

? speech an hour , nice , so I'm trying to pack as much in as I can . But there's a lot to consistency . Yeah , I think there's . There's a lot to it , and if you're out there and you feel like you're struggling with consistency , it could be for a bunch of different reasons . It might not be because you don't want the goal .

It might be because maybe you work from home three days a week and you're at home the other two and you feel like you just crush it every time you work from home , but when you go to the office you can't figure out why you feel like you suck . That's probably why there's got to be a new level of adaptability .

On this trip , I think ours was getting good sleep was number one , because we usually don't when we travel . Number two was fitness . That was my main one . It's like I do not want to miss exercise . I want to actually weight train . One time when we traveled , we were literally lifting with bags of groceries and I was like I had a .

I sat down with emilia . I said , sweetheart , I can't , I can't do this . I can't go from a fitness competitor to fucking lifting grocery bags . Like this is not weight training for me , like this does not check the box for me . We still exercise . You know good , good for us . I mean we were doing gallons of water and that kind of thing .

But come on , what are we doing here ? So I , I just we cannot miss the gym . I need a gym that has weights in it . I'm not doing body weight bullshit . And again , please don't for anyone else who's doing body weight , please don't be offended . I'm , I need a gym , okay , uh , but anyway . So number two was fitness . Number three was quality time with family .

In that order , in that order . Emilie and I have a three-year exercise streak and my number one priority was don't break that . Her number one priority was get good sleep and then after that we had quality time , but with the family my family and her family . Quality time is their number one , two and three Going on the boat . We saw a dolphin .

I mean it was awesome , but we literally had to go find a Planet Fitness . It was actually a really nice one . This place was sweet Because I wasn't sure . I looked it up and I did the virtual tour . It was really good . We're going there next time , for sure . And she also got a tech center to make sure we could be consistent on work .

But again , all of this is adaptability . So planning before the trip , because when you travel , we have a checklist , a travel checklist , of certain things we bring . We bring our alexa for certain music while we sleep . We we have a whole iCloud note of everything that needs to be brought .

That's why we liked driving down there , because we could bring our sort of home on wheels and uh . But ultimately it's because , going back to the top of mind thing , when you and I travel , there's two things that are the top of kevin's mind at all times . Number one is where's the gym . Number two is where's the food ?

very quickly , very close , number two yeah sure , and for me , the only difference is number one is what do we have to get done today ? Number two well , you have that too . It's like what's the , the minimum thing that we have to get done , no matter what for the business . Number two is where's the gym and when are we going to weight train ?

And number three is what are we eating for tonight for dinner ? For me , it's what needs to happen for the mission . Number two where's the gym ? And number three is what movie are we watching while we eat ?

I went to the doctor so I could get some cream for my face , so hopefully , my little rash over here is going to look better .

I still got up before taryn and I did my thing you do hotspot or they had internet . I did hotspot in one place and one place had internet . The Hotspot was brutal , but I didn't work out . When I was in Scotland , I didn't work out once Because we were driving .

It's like , okay , we're going to be in this town for 12 hours , we're just sleeping there , and then we're going to get up at 5 o'clock and we're going to drive 7 hours there , and then we're going to get up at five o'clock and we're going to drive seven hours . It's like Mike , I don't know Is it really worth it for me to do it , but I told Taryn .

I said next time we travel I'm going to figure out some sort of way to exercise and I don't want to be driving all over the place again

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One of them is called Willpower Kevin's reading it as well and the other one's called Willpower Doesn't Work by Benjamin Hardy , and one of them is about how to build willpower through self-discipline and how you can grow it over time . You can . There's a certain part of the brain that develops when you keep promises to yourself , especially when there's resistance .

However , it does drain . It's like the phone battery . Imagine an iPhone battery or a phone battery Android or iPhone that it still drains throughout the day and you still have to charge it at night when you sleep . However , the battery gets better each day instead of worse over time .

That that's willpower okay , great , and that's necessary , especially when you travel . But the other willpower doesn't work . Benjamin hardy . His thesis of the book is listen , willpower is a thing and you have to develop it , but if you're relying entirely on that and not environmental design , you are fucked .

And when emilia and I travel this house and I I owe it to her way more I actually , when I was reading this book , I told her I said , sweetheart , thank you so much like she has set this house up so incredibly well . I mean our offices , our kitchen , our air fryer , everything is set up first , I love how you have four .

We playfully joked about giving kevin our 83 inch tv because she doesn't want the tv in the bedroom kev's still like yeah how has that progressed ? it's progressed , it's progressed . Well , uh , we'll talk about it so I said that last time too . Uh , but we have .

Everything is so well set up to make sure that we make our bad habits hard to do and our good habits easy to do something as simple as I asked her . I said can you please remind me , when we sit down to eat dinner , to eat my salad first ? Dude , if I don't eat my salad first , I'm not eating it , I just won't . I'll fill up on everything else .

I've been in a bulk , so just eat as much as possible , basically . Um , seriously , it's been great , but the salad just won't get eaten makes sense if I eat my salad first , that whole thing goes down . And so she just gives me that little reminder and I'm like , ah , okay , yeah , I'll put this down , put this down first . I'm not a huge fan , I don't ?

I like I don't care for them . I'm like , ah , okay , yeah , I'll put this down , put this down first . I'm not a huge fan , I don't , I like I don't care for them .

But one thing I want to make as clear as possible is I've never met anyone all the clients I've coached over the years who isn't inconsistent in some things . So right now , Kevin and I , we're very consistent and we could probably name five things , but we're both very inconsistent in something .

So it's not like I'm getting to the end of the day and saying , oh shit , I missed it again . It's kind of a decision of like today , these are the things I have to do to survive and that's what I'm going to do .

Next Level Nation . We are very , very excited to announce that we are doing our first purely virtual Next Level Live . On April 5th 2025 , from 10 am to 4 pm Eastern Standard Time , alan and myself will be live streaming from worcester , massachusetts next level , live 2025 , be there .

If it's not aligned with a goal and it's not aligned with a core value , the chances of you being consistent at it are very , very , very slim , seriously . So the reason why I have to force for lack of a better phrasing myself to eat my salad is because I don't care . I don't like salad .

I'd much rather eat whatever else I'm eating , but my goals require me to do it , because if I don't get enough micronutrients , I'm not gonna be at my best and I'm gonna perform worse , and you can only eat Macros only for so long before you start feeling like shit in the gym . It starts hurting your performance , it starts hurting your sleep , all that stuff .

So I'm not eating salads because I like salad , and I think that there's a reframe around that and , again , the success piece . One of the things that in coaching can be frustrating at times is people will say , well , I don't really like salad .

It's like well , neither do I right , and and they're like well , in order to achieve your goals , you're not going to like everything . Like I don't know where people got that . Like well , I don't really like that . It's a desire thing .

I thought you forgot so for me , I'm consciously not doing the dreamlander every day because we have an event coming up in 21 days . I'm more focused on other things . I have clients , all this stuff . So it's not like I'm inconsistent . I'm inconsistent at certain things that I'm choosing to be inconsistent on , but that's based on my

goals . Question yeah , one minute answer , to don't you go off on a freaking tangent , but I think I'm freaking out in my office right now or maybe a b and I just looked straight at that light . I hope it's not a b you got your airpods on .

Nice , I was going to say something . Oh , under one minute , now that I've taken up all the time . How would you suggest or what advice would you give to somebody who is struggling with that piece , Letting go of something that you want to be consistent at ? but you're kind of sacrificing that to be consistent in something more valuable for your goals .

It helps people give themselves permission to to not have to be perfect at everything . So emilia cares a lot about making the bed in the morning , like she loves making the bed in the morning . She can't stand when the bed isn't made . I could give a fuck right the the dishes . She really likes them , not in the sink , I don't really care .

But there's certain things in fitness that need to happen for me . So the before and after the gym no phone calls , like we're not calling people before and after the gym , like certain things like that . So we have to integrate core values and goals . So the one minute end of my answer here , is it sucks . I know it sucks .

I think it takes courage to say I'm going to give up these good habits to go for these really great goals , and I think that it also takes humility to admit that you're human and that you can't do everything at level 10 .

So if I don't do the dreamliner for a week , I'm probably not going to notice and I might , when I start back up , and be like , yeah , okay , I could tell I was missing this , but there are certain things that have to get done now and if if they don't get done , things will break . The dreamliner just isn't one of those right now .

So that's always helped me is just the understanding of everything matters . Not everything matters the same and not everything matters at the same time To the same degree .

None of them are consistent at everything none of them and that , hopefully gives everyone permission to you know what they are consistent at , the things that are aligned with their goals and core values . So give yourself the permission to be consistent at the 10 out of 10 things . And no , yeah , I mean what's an example ?

And no , yeah , I mean what's an example ? Romwod . It's not optimal for me to not do mobility . Romwod is an app that videos long form stretching . That's terrible for me Long term . That's a jeffing . That's an L . Emilia and I . We're not getting any younger . Okay , we are talking about it often Like we gotta find a way .

We gotta find a way to do mobility more . She knows it and I know it . Okay , we're gonna have to give something else up . Okay , what are we gonna give up ? Nothing , right now I . I haven't been doing that ever since I started cutting . Yeah , I had to can out the morning pancakes had to well , you never .

It's summer . I want to be very jacked by summer . I mean , it's already march . It's the middle of what are you ?

My gym stuff is always in my car . I have my knee sleeves in the back , my belt is in the back , my wrist wraps are in the back , my boxing gloves are in my trunk . I have all of my stuff in my car at all times my elbow sleeves , everything is in there , in case I go somewhere and then I want to hit the gym on the way home , or whatever it is .

There's always a . We can try to inject some level of certainty into uncertainty to the best of our ability . That would be my next little lesson .

No one else is telling us we have to do this , but we have certain rules in our relationship where her and I don't go out without having our my zen book and her MacBook , like in case we have to charge the Tesla . Then we make sure that we can get something done . We have certain rules .

My bag is always work ready and gym ready Always , and I never leave without it , because there have been too many times where it's like , ah , we could have ended up hitting that gym , we could have ended up doing , oh , pivot , okay , her parents , you've got to gotta prepare to your point for being adapted , adaptable .

And I always have my knee sleeves in my bag , I always have my wrist straps in my bag , that kind of thing . My my bag , one bag , one journal , one zen book , one phone . I think a lot of people have 10 journals and you know , three computers and a bunch of different air types of air pods and a bunch of .

I try my best to have one of everything and I try to make sure that I'm always fitness ready , work ready , relationship ready .

We're going to do two , and one will get done on Saturday and boom , now we've survived another week and then next week we can figure out how we're going to do it again . A lot of adaptability , Definitely something I'm working on , because I haven't always had that when it comes to business stuff , but I'm really trying to work on that .

All right , Next Level Nation , if you want to attend our live event on April 5th 2025 , Next Level Live 2025 , we will have the link in the show notes below . It is a full day event , but if you can't stay for the whole time , with your ticket purchase you will get access to the replay .

So if you come for a couple hours awesome you can watch the rest of the replay . No matter what , you'll be able to consume the content .

We're only taking 50 people and we're only selling 50 tickets because we want to make sure this is a really high quality group of people Not saying you're not , but we want to make sure that the breakout sessions are really good . It's just a good showing of next level people .

That's the goal , and we've done things in the past where we wanted to get as many people there as possible and it just didn't work as well and it wasn't as aligned .

We're we're doing it based on what we know of you and all that kind of stuff . Sign up , register 47 bucks and the . The thing that needs to be said is I know it's a saturday , I know a lot of people have a lot of stuff going on . If you have to pop in and out , we're not going to be offended , okay , so sign up as soon as possible .

The tickets are selling like crazy and we are filling it up as soon as possible .

All right , as always . We love you , we appreciate you , grateful for each and every one of you At NLU . We don't have fans , we have family . We will talk to you all tomorrow , keep it .