When consistency is working, it's great. But what do you do when consistency gets in the way? It can be hard to find a way to frame your goals and your training to move forward when consistency seems to go out the window. However, with a few mindset shifts, you can find some solid ground to stand on and stop being so hard on yourself when it comes to your consistency in the gym. Key Takeaways If You Want to Stay More Consistent With Your Workouts, You Should:  Stop comparing yourself to others or a past version of yourself Make a realistic plan for how you are going to show up for yourself and your movement practices Seek help and accountability from a trainer or a friend Main Point #1 A lot of the conversations I have been having with my clients lately have been focused around the idea of consistency, and what to do when your perceived lack of consistency seems to be mocking you. This mindset is rooted in the perfectionist, all-or-nothing camp, which can negatively affect your motivation and consistency towards your goals. Many of us have a perception that in order to be consistent with something, we need to do it more than we are. But what if you took a minute to stop judging ourselves and stop using consistency as a metric in which we compare ourselves to past versions of ourselves and others? Main Point #2 A great way to make your consistency feel more real is to plan for every aspect of what your practice is going to take and be realistic about its necessity of it. By understanding that there is value in moving, even if you are not 100% perfect or consistent, you can define your own personal version of consistency in the here and now. Redefining what consistency means for you and separating the idea that consistency means perfection will help you train smarter, not harder. I want you to get the most out of your training, and when we can only focus on what we aren't doing, we tend to forget about all of the great things we are doing. Are you ready to shift your mindset around what consistency, success, and progress look like to you? Share your thoughts and struggles with consistency with me in the comments section of the episode page. In This Episode Learn about the problematic language that can surround your idea of consistency (5:49) How to define what consistency looks like to you here and now without comparing yourself to your past or others (9:20) Why you need to be realistic about how often and how hard you can work out and make it count (12:52) Discover why consistency and habits are not necessarily as connected as you may believe (18:11) What to do if you are struggling with the idea of consistency and dont know how to move forward (19:45) Quotes “When things are going well, and you feel like you are hitting your stride, the idea of consistency in your habits, in your training, in whatever practices you are trying to implement, can really feel amazing, until it is not.” (2:43) “Let's figure out what is going to help you move forward, build strength, get results, work efficiently, make the most out the time you do have, and that is your consistency level, and that is fine.” (9:16) “We can go hard, but we have to be wise about how hard we go, and also take into consideration some of the variables that go into how hard we personally can go.” (13:31) “Sometimes life happens. We have to be forgiving and compassionate about that, and we have to be understanding.” (18:57) “You don't have to be perfect, you don't have to make consistency yet another thing that you feel is so heavy in your life, another thing that you are not doing good enough. You are doing good enough.” (25:34) Featured on the Show Join the Group Strength Nutrition Program Waitlist Here Check out the full show notes here! Follow Steph on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Pinterest I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Podcast production & marketing support by the team at Counterweight Creative