It’s one thing to have a great game, play a solid round of golf, score a couple of goals in a game, run a personal best or nail a gymnastics routine… but if you want to be a top-performing athlete, you want to learn how to perform with consistently.
Why do so many athletes lack consistency?
There are a few reasons why certain athletes are inconsistent:
Inconsistent preparation – Inconsistent preparation leads to inconsistent performances. Some athletes merely stop doing the things that brought them success in the first place.
Happy to be here – Some athletes just want to get to a certain level one time, like achieving a national cut and are not interested in doing the work necessary to stay at that level.
Lack of confidence – Some athletes believe that their top performance was a fluke and that they don’t have the ability to replicate that type of performance.
Lack of mental toughness – Lack of mental toughness will lead to inconsistent performance.
If you want to be a consistent performer, you must address all four challenges.
"Consistency takes hard work, daily preparation, and trust in your ability."
Consistent peak performance takes demanding work.
Consistent peak performance requires a prominent level of preparation.
Consistent peak performance calls for you to believe in your ability to produce top results.
If you want to be an elite athlete, then the goal is to improve your consistency.
Going through the Motions
It doesn’t just take discipline and willpower to do something; it takes a desire to do it.
Discipline and willpower are tools that help you tolerate stress better and help you maintain consistency in the short run, but it all starts with desire. Any activity can only be sustainable in the long term in the presence of real desire, for no matter how tough you are, willpower eventually runs out.
Consistency is a matter of intense desire.
No matter what you want to do, if you want to stay consistent at it, you must truly desire the outcomes your actions will bring.
No matter what you want to do, if you want to stay consistent at it, you must truly desire the outcomes your actions will bring.
And your desire must be real; you must feel it, to live it as if your life depended on it.
It cannot be a “kind of”, “sort of”, or “good to have” type of want.
It must be real and intense.
Most people are half-hearted with their desires.
They want something, but they only “kind of” want it – which is not enough for total dedication.
Inconsistency is simply a manifestation of a lack of real desire. To put it another way, how consistent you are is a representation of how intense your desire level for those outcomes is.
Inconsistency is simply a lack of real desire (for the outcome)
There is no magic pill, no special meditation, no program, and no course that can help you be more consistent when that desire is missing.
For every pursuit you are inconsistent in, you must ask yourself, “why am I not already a success here?”, and you will have your answer.
It was a lack of deep desire.
And no, no one can give you desire – it must come from you.
If you lack intense desire, you will always be inconsistent.
A Tip for Consistent Peak Performance
When you set a goal, you select a target and then identify the steps needed to achieve that objective.
Consistency is a matter of repeating those steps or repeating the process that helped you perform at your peak.
First, think back to the times when you performed your best. Examine your preparation, work ethic, and mental preparation for those events.
Contrast when your best with those times that you performed poorly.
What have you done differently to help you perform your best?
Second, consistent mental and physical preparation leads to consistent performances.
Adopt pre-competition plans or routines that will instill consistent physical and mental preparation.
Finally, mental preparation includes having a game plan, visualizing yourself executing the game plan, being proactive with your confidence, and preparing to trust your skills.
Until next time,
Coach Nye
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