How to Be Consistent in Life and Business (Without Burning Out or Doing All the Things Without ROI)
Consistency isn't a personality trait. It's something you design — around the right things, at the right time, with the right support. Here's how.
Key Takeaways
True consistency means doing less, not more… but doing things on purpose
You only need 2 of 3 resources (time, energy, money) to stay consistent. You need to identify which two you have and design around those
Consistency compounds quietly in the background, even when you're not watching
The never-break-the-chain method works but only when you're consistent with the right things (not ALL of the things!)
Cutting 50% of your marketing activities might be the most productive thing you do this year
Consistency becomes effortless when you stop forcing it and start designing your life so it's the path of least resistance
Have you ever looked up and realized that the thing you built… the business, the body, the audience… happened quietly, in the background, because you just kept showing up?
That’s consistency!
I've often been called "the most consistent person" by pretty much everyone in my life… my clients, my friends, my husband, probably my dog if she could talk… But consistency didn't come naturally to me overnight.
It started in a spin studio in 2009, taught me everything I know, and has shaped how I run my business and my life ever since.
Here are my 3 best tips for building consistency that actually sticks — in your health, your marketing, and your business.
Let’s start with some back story…
It's 2009. I'm 20 some years old, standing at the front of a spin class in a university gym, and I am absolutely in my element.
Music blasting. Room full of people. Me on the bike, mic on, calling out the next cycling sprint interval.
I had found ‘my thing’ (yes, spin class was something I actually loved… after my butt got used to the saddle LOL).
Looking back, that was the moment consistency stopped being something I had to force and started being something I actually wanted.
I wasn't crossing X's off my printed calendar because I was disciplined. I was doing it because I was obsessed.
Because I had found a community. Because showing up on Monday, Wednesday and Friday wasn't a habit anymore… it was just who I was.
And that realization… that consistency… is easy when you actually care about the thing you're pouring into.
Becoming consistent with my fitness routine & eventually teaching fitness classes to others shaped everything about how I run my business and my life ever since.
Because here's what I know after nearly 13 years of social media content creation, 10 years in business, 8 years of podcasting, 5 years of Fractional CMO work…. etc.
Consistency isn't a personality trait. It's not something you either have or you don't. It's something you design around the right things, at the right time, with the right support.
Since consistency is a topic I love to talk about, let me share more...
Here are 3 of my favourite tips for those of you who want to be more consistent in life and in business…
1. Be consistent with less than you think you need to be.
This is the one that surprises people the most. When clients come to me feeling scattered… doing the podcast, the newsletter, the reels, the stories, the blog, the Substack, the LinkedIn, the threads… I tell them the same thing every time.
We're cutting 50% of this list. Today.
Not because those things aren't valuable. Because you have zero energy for half of them, you're inconsistent across all of them, and the ROI is minimal. Consistency only compounds when it's focused. One thing done well, week after week, will always outperform seven things done sporadically.
Ask yourself: what's the one thing that… if you showed up for it consistently for the next 90 days…would actually move the needle?
Start there. Cut the rest. For now.
2. You need at least 2 of 3 to stay consistent.
I think about consistency as a Venn diagram — three circles: time, energy, and money. At peak consistency, you have all three. But honestly? You only need two.
In the early days of hosting and producing my podcast I had time and energy, but no money.
So I did everything myself (& I mean everyttttthingggg: preparing, recording, editing, sound-bites, publishing, marketing, posting, emailing guests)
As the business grew and time got tight, I put money into a production assistant. The energy was still there. The time wasn't. So I adjusted.
This works for health too. Want to eat well but have a newborn and zero bandwidth? Stop trying to meal prep on
Sundays like some kind of superhero. Order the groceries. Pay for the healthy meal delivery. Use the resource you have.
Figure out which 2 of the 3 you currently have — and design your consistency around those. Stop fighting the one you don't.
3. Make consistency the path of least resistance.
The never-break-the-chain method changed my life in university. I printed out a paper calendar, wrote one goal at the top, and crossed off every day with an X. That's it. No app. No system. No optimization. Just a goal and an X.
I still do this today when I'm building a new habit.
But here's the thing… the calendar isn't the point.
The point is that I removed every decision from the equation. The classes were booked Sunday night. The clothes were laid out. The VA had the SOP. The groceries were on a schedule. The podcast folder had a checklist.
When consistency feels hard, it usually means the friction is too high… not that your discipline is too low. So instead of trying to be more motivated, ask yourself: how do I make this so easy that not doing it feels weird?
That's the real consistency hack. Not willpower. Architecture.
Ready to get consistent with the right things in YOUR life & business, specifically in your MARKETING?
If you're feeling scattered with your marketing and you're not sure what to cut, what to keep, or how to build a strategy you can actually sustain — let's talk.
https://www.kelseyreidl.com/visionary-marketing-coaching
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