Are you consistent in your daily business activities or is the only thing you’re consistent with is being inconsistent? If you’re like most network marketers, consistency is not a strength, at least not yet. 

Many network marketers are only somewhat consistent, meaning they go through spurts. For a few weeks, they connect with their network and send follow-up messages to everyone they’ve connected with in the last few months. Then, they’ll miss a day or two – perhaps something else comes up or they go on vacation or they’re just feeling a bit under the weather. However, those few days off from connecting with their networks slowly turns into weeks. Before long, they’ve fallen off track and are left wondering what happened.

Success lies in routine

By this time of the year, the motivation that carried you all through January has faded. You may have had a turbo boost of motivation in February, especially if you’re enrolled in Elite Business Bootcamp. However, being hopped up on motivation will only get you so far; it’s essential to create a successful routine.

The term “routine” is not one that inspires millions. In fact, you may have read the word and immediately groaned or made a sour face in response. Routine takes planning. It also takes work and commitment. None of these things elicits excitement. When successful people recount their journeys to success, their routines hardly get a passing mention. That’s unfortunate because their routines are the source of their success. Those tasks and activities that they committed to completing daily – no matter what – turned into habits. The habits became a routine. And, once it became a routine it became part of them – like brushing their teeth. 

“It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently.” – Anthony Robbins

Of course, they had bad days along the way, or days when they just didn’t feel like working on their businesses. But, a funny thing happens when your business activities become a routine – you don’t have to think about doing them anymore. It becomes automatic. So, while they may have a fleeting thought of passing them up for a day, they don’t. To them, it feels as if it takes more effort to NOT connect with their networks and do their other activities than it does to skip it. And that’s often why they’re so successful – they’ve no choice but to succeed!

Why is it so hard to build a consistent routine?

It’s different for everyone. Ask 100 different people why they find it difficult to adopt successful habits and build a routine and you’ll get 150 excuses. Some common excuses:

• It’s too hard
• There are too many distractions
• I’m too busy
• I’ll do it later
• I’m just not good at following a routine
• It’s not how I operate – I like spontaneity
• Once I finish X, I’ll get more serious about my business
• If I’m meant to succeed I will regardless of my habits.
• [Name of successful person] doesn’t do anything special and they’re super successful, so I don’t have to either.
• Routine is so boring.
• I still get everything done without a routine… eventually.

The list goes on and on. The basic fact of the matter is that building a habit is hard and most of us are wired to take the easier road. That’s not a slight against anyone; as humans, we’re hardwired to go the easy route – it saves both time and energy. However, it often doesn’t lead to lasting success. 

Throw in the mix our current fast-paced, ‘what’s next’ culture and the thought of putting in the time and energy to build good habits become even less enticing. We want success, for sure, but we want it right away and without the sacrifice and hard work necessary to make it last. Sure, there may be the rare network marketer who found success immediately, most have to work at it daily in order to build the strong business necessary to achieve success. 

How to cultivate consistency

If you’re eager to achieve success, first you have to build the successful habits that are required to reach it. It’s not flashy, but it’s necessary to reach your goals in your business and outside of it.

Cultivate the right mindset

As with most things, good habits start in your head first. It’s all about your mindset. If your go-to excuse is that you’re just not good at being consistent, then you’re right (to paraphrase a famous quote by Henry Ford). Your thoughts can limit how far you’ll go. If you use negative or limiting language, you’re sure to fail before you even start. Your thoughts become your reality so if you say you just can’t get it together enough to become consistent then it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

However, if you turn your negative thoughts into positive ones, then you’re more likely to build good habits and become consistent. You have faith in yourself and your abilities to follow through with your intentions. This is the perfect setup for success.

Make it easier to be consistent 

It takes time to be consistent in your actions, especially those that pertain to your business. Set yourself up to win by creating a plan and following through with it. 

• Plan to write down your tasks each day, pinpointing the top two priorities of the day. Use an app on your phone or a regular sticky note and pen to list your top to-dos every day. Also, be sure to log into Teamzy each day to track your activities and know who to contact and follow up with each day. It often helps to do this at night so that you can dive right into your list first thing in the morning.
• Review your list in the morning so you can get in the right mindset for the rest of the day. If it’s going to be a busy one, you can prepare mentally to get it all done.
• Make a date with your business. Decide on a time each day to work on your business. This is your Power Hour. It only takes an hour or less each day to build your business and achieve your goals. Put it into your calendar and stick with it. You wouldn’t stand up your spouse or kids if you had plans with them; offer that same consideration to yourself.

Maintain perspective

Change takes time. You won’t suddenly become the master of consistency after a week of being consistent. The habit of consistency builds over the span of weeks, months, and even years. That said, resist the urge to become impatient and maintain your perspective. It’s hard work, but it’s work that pays off in time. And, when all else fails, think of how fantastic you’ll feel in a few months when you’ve built a thriving because on the back of your consistent habits. 

Start today

The best time to start a new habit is today. Often, we talk ourselves into starting something new at some time in the future. We convince ourselves that we’ll be more prepared then, or less busy, or will have the best mindset. Unfortunately, that ideal point in the future often never comes, and if it does, it’s after we’ve long forgotten about our original intention – in this case, that intention is building consistent habits. 

Instead of putting it off, start now. If you want to consistently follow-up with your network, log in to Teamzy and find out who to contact today. Then reach out to them. It’ll only take 30 minutes or so. But, take the time now to start. Then, put it into your schedule for tomorrow and the rest of the week. Do this daily, and before long, it’ll become part of your regular routine. Resist procrastination; after all, it won’t be any easier to start tomorrow (despite what you tell yourself now).

Get more consistent with Teamzy

Teamzy makes it easy to build your habit of consistency. Login and Teamzy will take the guesswork out of your daily business activities. You’ll know who to contact today to get you closer to building a thriving network marketing business. Click here to learn more.