New Year, New You?

New Year, New You?

The buzz word making the "Resolution Rounds'' this year has been consistency. While consistency is important, in order for it to be effective, there needs to be an understanding in diversity.

Let's not get it twisted. I am not anti-consistency. I spent most of my life being consistently driven towards the goal of playing professional basketball. Another four toward being the best author I could be, and the last three developing a way to help overseas athletes be successful. I would not have made it thus far, without having consistency in my life. That being said, consistency without an understanding of YOUR appropriate consistency, leads you toward a path of mediocrity.

I hear the word consistency daily. It becomes more prevalent at the start of a new year as it is labeled, the "end all beat all" approach to being successful. "Stay consistent," they shout as they show off the results of THEIR consistency. Strong physique, multiple cars, large houses, lavish vacations. The thing is...that is their consistency and not yours. Your consistency could have a completely different approach and path toward success.That doesn't mean one way is right and the other is wrong. All it means, is that figuring out what works best for you, is more important than consistently doing something that may not work, over and over and over. 

Let's zoom out for a second...we live in a diverse world. No two people are the same, yet we try to fit into these specific models and systems. The same workouts, the same coursework, the same coaches, but the results are all different. We all have different ways to achieve our goals. Different methods and thought processes. Yet we go into resolutions thinking, if it worked for them, it will work for me.

Think of a good high school athletic team. Twenty kids and only one ends up playing their sport collegiately. But why? They were all consistent. Same routines, same practices, and most importantly, the same coach. So why did only one achieve long term success? They were all being consistent. The answer, obviously, is because all those athletes are different. And so are we. We can’t expect the same results if our physical and mental compositions are all unique. 

Every new year, I hear about fresh starts. Craze fitness programs like Dry January or 75 Hard flood the social media timelines. These are the poster children of consistency.Push yourself for a set amount of time. Then February 1st, crack open a beer to celebrate. If your focused mindset becomes making it to the end instead of forming positive habits, what is the point?

You didn't really change, instead you created an unnecessary END DATE to prove that you are capable of doing something. But are you? What happens on Day 76? Hopefully, you retained some discipline throughout however, considering this was a program you felt was necessary to create a change, did you actually change your mindset, or were you just consistent?

Anytime someone asks my New Year's Resolution, I tell them the same thing I did the year before. Maintain balance in my life and stay patient.

• Balance - This is the key to my healthy mindset. The highs can't be too high and the lows can't be too low. If I eat like crap, I'll balance it out with healthy eating. Living life with balance helps maintain the principles of success, without complete deprivation.

• Patience - We are a NOW society. If results aren't there immediately, we get distracted. We fall apart. If we play the long game and figure out our best approach towards success, while winning those small battles, the results will come.

Consistency by definition means without variation. But variety is needed in life. It took ten years of experimenting before figuring out what workout program worked best for my non-pro athlete body. There is a great amount of trial and error before consistency can be effective. While consistency is important, without understanding your individual needs and diversity, it could be counter-productive. Again, you need consistency in your life. That will consist of many different variations until you know what method works best for you. Then, and only then, will you be able to keep it consistent.