What does consistency mean to you?

Is it necessary? Where? When? Why? In what?

This conversation has come up numerous times over the last month with clients, colleagues & friends.

When you see this word, what does it evoke initially?

I find this word to be safe and calm for some; triggering for others; and everything in between.

If we, as artists, recognize what this is for us individually, I believe it can allow for breathing room, as well as space to explore and accept.

To be consistent evokes a kind of practice, a kind of structure, that involves commitment and focus.

To be consistent there is a pattern of predictability.

Consistency can allow for a schedule, goal-setting, achievement.

I think the big adjustment in consistency is what that means for the individual in how they live, work & play.

Your mindset’s consistency is just as important as your practical consistency in your life. One feeds the other.

If your mindset is constantly in chaos, self-sabotage, delusion, self-doubt, paranoia, there is not a positive consistency in which to lean into.

If your practical day to day has little focus or structure or predictability, it feeds into that self-doubt.

And then, what about your artistic self? Is there consistency there? Are you feeding that aspect of you or is that, too, a hit or miss?

I believe the mindset leads all of it. What we can do to recognize our own pit-falls in order to find pattern, a focus, a structure that is positive on a regular basis is crucial. Beginning with one behavior that repeats consistently will allow for a consistency and change in mindset, or a consistency and strengthening of mindset. Whether that is journaling daily, or if that’s too much, a weekly mind dump, or meditation, or gratitude.

Now, for our purposes, what about your artistic and business self?

How do you stay purposeful? Focused? Accessible? Positively structured and predictable?

What is consistency in your practice routine? Do you have one? What does it look like right now? What would you like it to look like? If you were able to make those shifts, what could that consistency allow for?

What is consistency in your study? Everybody is at their own level, and what is consistency to one, will not be for another. If you are still building technical behavior, that consistency of study might be weekly or bi-weekly. If you are in maintenance, it might be monthly or even less. If you are working through an injury it might be something different. If you are learning a role, in rehearsal, working toward a concert, that study will be different.

Finding your level of consistency is key. Nobody can tell you what that is. The work you do with your teacher, or coach, or specialist determines what your needs are and how you remain consistent in that journey.

The most important part is the consistency! It is the structure you discover and claim, in order to inhabit it fully, regularly, and with clear intention and focus.

This week, keep mindful of your consistency. How do you show up for yourself? Your colleagues? Your work?

How do you show up for your craft? Your technique? Your artistic spirit?

Find that consistency in HOW you show up, and WHY you show up. Maybe you have to ask if you are even showing up!

That’s okay too. Figure it out. Am I showing up? Start there. No value judgement either, thank you very much. If you dare to ask the question, that is a huge step. If yes, then how? why? and how do you build consistency in order to get where you want to be; where you need to be; where you are?

If no, take a beat. It takes determination and focus to even recognize this. Exhale. How can you begin to show up in your life? in your craft? in your practice? What does that look like FOR YOU? Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Choose ONE thing you can do this week in order to move yourself into a direction of consistency.

It isn’t all or nothing. All these small steps and small recognitions begin to gel and expand as you breathe life into them. It’s how we claim our authenticity.

Start with a small commitment to consistency this week. Stay present and pay attention to where it leads you.

with fondness & fierceness,