Shane Parhar has a saying he comes back to often: motivation gets you started, but consistency gets you there. “Motivation is a guest,” Shane Parhar says. “It comes and goes. Habits are what live in the house.”
Make it easy to show up
Shane Parhar’s approach to consistency is to make the first step as small as possible. Five pushups instead of an hour at the gym. One page instead of a chapter. Once you start, momentum usually does the rest.
“Lower the bar until you can’t say no to it,” he says.
Don’t break the chain twice
Everyone misses a day. Shane Parhar’s rule is to never miss two in a row. One slip is life. Two, start a new habit you didn’t want.
“Perfect isn’t the goal,” he says. “Coming back is.”
Trust the slow build
Shane Parhar reminds people that the results of consistency are invisible at first. The work feels like it isn’t doing anything, right up until it suddenly is.
“Bamboo grows underground for years before it shoots up,” he says. “Most good things work the same way.”
The takeaway
Shane Parhar’s advice is to choose one habit, make it almost too small to skip, and keep showing up. The results will follow.
