“Consistency demands more than staying the same. Staying consistent only feels like progress when you get creative.” ― The Lady Nudge
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Hello Friends,
I hope you're feeling well and looking swell!
To stay committed to excellence, I will now send out The Lady Nudge's organic content on a bi-weekly basis. Sometimes consistency will demand us to reinvent and be creative in our process.
Well then, let's take a look at how we can make consistency, less routine, and more imaginative.
A close friend and I were talking about emotions (a kind of emotional exercise) and compared pictures we had previously taken. A lovely picture from several birthdays ago was so good, yet comparing it to the next birthday, the difference in emotions was clear.
Although it wasn't our topic of the discussion, the journey towards consistency between those years was the lesson that stuck with me. Every year, consistency wouldn't just let me stay the same. It's hard! But we move!
If you're a sucker for excellence, then at some point, the discipline that consistency requires wouldn't give you a breather to remain the same. You know that there are purposes, places, and people to get to and something deep inside of you will call forth an upgrade (1 Peter 2:9).
“The desire for excellence becomes a reality when an individual sets a standard, reach it, and surpass it consistently.” ― Israelmore Ayivor
Considering how painful staying consistent can be, a few additions here and there in our journey of life would make a big difference, and clear us from falling into a monotonous and unoriginal kind of life. Unimaginativeness isn't in God's plan for us, why?, we carry His Spirit of excellence (Exodus 35:31-32). And this allows us to live life the way God intended for us. Not necessarily a life free of trouble, but a life filled with godly wisdom (Psalm 90:12).
Dear one, if consistency doesn't push you to add something new or improve upon an old method, that might be stagnancy. To truly enjoy being consistent, we have to ensure we don't fall into dull regimens. Instead, we can live passionately and creatively, and benefit from God's wisdom to make our consistency, worthwhile. By being innovative, we connect with and make the most of each tool of consistency (Passion, Patience, and Presence).
Let's jump right into it;
REvamp
Consistency sometimes will require you to build a routine. Yeah, more like doing the same things a couple of times over. Going through these same processes, repetitively, can be a challenge. Revamping our routines can revive an essential tool of consistency: passion. Updating, improving, or adding new information or a step to our way of doing things can bring back 'the creative' in you back to life.
This is not about becoming a conjured or forced version of you that takes away from you. I am talking about a transformation. It is remolding those pieces of your consistent routine that will make a masterpiece of who you want to become. This is an upgrade. Our consistency feels healthier and productive when we incorporate minor (or maybe major) activities into the same processes we used to know.
“The creation of the world did not take place once and for all time, but takes place every day.” — Samuel Beckett
It is like trying on a different color of lipstick for the first time, taking that course to upgrade your skills, or redecorating your room, or using better methods to take on this new work project. This is restoration, breathing new life to the things we have been used to doing.
Revamping your consistency is adding something new to your now-stagnant COVID 19 schedule, taking that first step to grow your plants, talking to and listening to God in a brand new way, running your first mile, getting things done without the fear of making mistakes.
“Consistency will get you everything.” ― Anonymous
It is opening your mind to more of God's revelation, accepting constructive criticisms in areas where we fail, completing that book, being a better parent, actually sleeping for a whole eight hours. It is taking what we used to know and bringing it into new light (2 Timothy 3:16-17). This is liberation.
Revamping involves setting ourselves free from the stifling nature of our boring routines by putting a 'be-better' stamp on it. It is updating what we used to know and improving our normal so we can still live consistently but never go out of style. This is self-revolution.
REorganize
We might have all this new knowledge to add to or improvements to make to our routines. But not making plans or setting things out in order can lead to confusion, distractions, hence, taking us back to our inconsistencies. Reorganizing reignites another tool of consistency: patience/sacrifice. There is now a chance to tolerate new things and let go of anything that hinders the improvements in your consistency.
“If you don't stay relevant you will be relegated” ― Bernard Kelvin Clive
This is taking who you are and setting the stage for who you are becoming. This is maturity.
It is taking the new and old, and deciding what needs to stay and what needs to go. Deciding on what order this new transformation would happen. It involves checking up what serves you and what doesn't. This is overhauling.
“However you consistently show up may not be who you think you are, but it’s who you’ve become. If you want to be your best self, consistently show up as your best version.” ― Richie Norton
This is revising those standards you have set for yourself, shaking up who you thought you were or what people called you. It is taking down every high and lofty thing that has raised itself above the name of Jesus in your life (2 Corinthians 10:5). Reorganizing is the renewal of thoughts we once held (Romans 12:2), taking up the eternal armory in prayer and word study (2 Corinthians 10:4, Hebrews 4:12-13). It is aligning this new upgrade and walking in the path of who we have been called (Jeremiah 1:4-5). And this is elevation.
REnew
Now that we have freshened up our consistency, do we stop there? Not at all! We start all over again. Restarting might require you to use your passion, patience/sacrifice, and the presence on a higher stage or new season in life.
Nobody likes to start things over again. This is the part where discipline (2 Timothy 1:7) nudges us. Lord help us, because it may get tough!
Now you have to press the 'replay' button because consistency will keep calling out to you that "you ain't done yet!" And when it gets hard (Psalm 42:7), your God never fails. He is right there with you (Psalm 42:8, 2 Corinthians 4:7-9).
This stage relies on the third tool of consistency: The Presence. We have this confident assurance on which our soul anchors on. That Jesus is our representative in the presence of the Father (Hebrews 6:19-20), hence we have access as well.
So start over by redeveloping what used to be, updating and refining the processes by which you did things, and then you do it all over again. Whew! Consistency is Hard Work!
And it raises the bar every time!
Prayer
It is my prayer that we do not get consumed by our routines, overwhelmed by our sameness, or trapped in our battles. I pray that we ask for and receive God's wisdom (James 1:5, Proverbs 2:6) to be imaginative in our routines, to transform our sameness, and flourish even at battle frontlines.
I pray we strive for a consistency that challenges us and doesn't cause us to settle, which inspires our imagination to live life in style and be little inventors of our future (Jeremiah 10:12).
No matter the season, high or low, I pray that the presence of God would be with us as we revamp, reorganize, and renew at new levels of consistency.
May the rest of 2020 keep surprising us (Psalm 4:6-7), in Jesus' name!
Love & Peace,
The Lady Nudge.
'And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom and skill, with intelligence and understanding, and with knowledge in all [areas of] craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs to work in gold, silver, and bronze, ' Exodus 35:31-32
#consistency #creative #imagination #2020 #excellence
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Sources: bible.com, goodreads.com, biblegateway.com
Author's Disclaimer: All content of this blog is for informational and inspirational purposes only, and represents the opinions, experiences, and research made by the author.
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