eBusiness Weekly
Arthur Marara
Rome was not built in a day! This is a very old statement which people often throw in conversations, but rarely take time to look at its depth. This statement speaks the truth to success. Rome was built one brick at a time. To the ordinary person, nothing makes sense when bricks are being laid daily. It is only after sometime that the picture will come out as to exactly what was happening. One brick at a time is what consistently built massive structures that we all see today. This is the power of consistency, the ability to be predictable in doing things.
“We are what we repeatedly do; excellence then is not an act but a habit.” — Aristotle. This is an eternal truth that Aristotle bequeathed to us even before Jesus Christ was born. He was in essence calling upon people to practice one principle, consistency. If we do things consistently, they become a part of us. Great things are not done in day, but they are done daily. It is those small consistent steps that draw us consistently.
Small steps matter
This is perhaps one of the messages that people who want to go into business often do not want to hear. Start small! Nothing happens unless if you start. Lao Tzu was right when he said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Start small, and be consistent in the process of growing. Whatever steps you take in the right direction are never a waste; they are an investment into your business.
The world needs consistency
Consistency is an attribute that the world is in search of today. We all want consistent service from our service providers. We want consistent taste from the food makers. Imagine today you buy bread from the same company and its tasting different from the taste you had yesterday.
Coca-Cola was set up in 1886; imagine what could have happened to the brand if the taste of Coca-Cola was different 132 years later. People look for brand consistency. There was uproar some months ago; when the manufacturers of Mazoe announced that they were reducing the sugar from their products. The market quickly objected as this was not consistent with what they were used to.
The management was quick to advise that they were going back to the original product, going to the extent of endorsing, “original” on their products.
This is the power of consistency, and also an endorsement from the market itself. The market identifies with the product such that they cannot afford an interruption of the brand. Consistency is a discipline that has to be developed. Those small steps have to be taken if you want to grow, and to grow your business.
There is no overnight success
Nothing just happens. There was a point in time Econet, was not the Econet you know. Nyaradzo did not start this big, First Mutual and all these companies that you may know. The secret with all the big organisations is consistency. They identified their unique purpose and consistently focused on developing themselves to meet the needs of their market.
“Nature, by example, shows us anything worthwhile comes over time. Anything worthwhile grows methodically, building on a strong foundation. Develop a willingness to carry on despite roadblocks.” (Jaren L. Davis). Nature provides us with profound lessons if we are willing to be its students. One of the fundamental lessons is that; things do not just happen.
This principle in modern times has unfortunately been committed to the dustbins of antiquity, yet the greatest of all frustrations in life ensue from its violation.
We live in times whereby everything is fast; fast-foods, fast-cash, fast-cars, fast-relationships/marriages, fast-prayers, and some people even believe and look for fast miracles (microwave miracles). With the advent of the prophetic, strange things have even been propagated, that you can turn your business by just “deliverance”, and “seeding”. I mean no offence to the propagators of such doctrines, but these doctrines do not contribute to the GDP of the economy. People have to be taught principles of success, and one of such principles is one of consistency.
The fast-life deprives us of many things which are essential to the development of our character; and patience. The fast life does not teach us process. It does not give us exposure to how things are done, but what we only know is to have them. Without an understanding of process, it is difficult to have an appreciation of value. We need to master the principle of patience if we are going to experience a life of greatness.
We all want breakthroughs in the various areas of our lives, sometimes we might even wish that it comes faster than the speed of light.
However, this does not always happen. You might have started on a project, and you are not seeing any results despite the fact that you have been putting all the effort and resources in it. There might not any sign of hope at all, and you might be getting drowsy by the day, and even thinking of giving up on the vision.
Sometimes the realities of the stomach will even prompt you to think of other alternatives which can give you results faster. If you are such a person, well you are the right person for this article.
The Chinese Bamboo
There can be no better example to demonstrate the principle of patience and consistency than that of the Chinese Bamboo. We might have heard or read about the Chinese bamboo, if not I will take you through this special type of vegetation.
The Chinese bamboo is very flexible, lightweight and is even believed to be stronger than steel and many hardwoods. It is used for constructions purposes, flooring, fencing, house walls, and has also been used for skateboards, bicycles and bike helmets because of its light weight and durability.
The Chinese Bamboo has been commended for being eco-friendly because of its renewable nature. Amazing uses for the Chinese Bamboo indeed, but there is an impacting story which accompanies it.
The Chinese Bamboo starts off as a tiny seed. This seed is committed to the ground and watered, and fertilised daily. The Chinese Bamboo does not grow the following week or months or show any sign of growth.
If you intend to grow the Chinese Bamboo tree you need to be aware of the following procedures:
The first year; you water and fertilise the seed daily . . . Nothing happens.
The second year; you water and fertilise the seed daily . . . Nothing happens.
The third year; you water and fertilise the seed daily . . . Nothing happens.
The fourth year; you water and fertilise the seed daily . . . Nothing happens.
The story, however, changes in the fifth year you water and fertiliser and seed daily, that is when you can see physical results of the growth on the outside. The amazing thing is that in the fifth year the Chinese Bamboo grows to 27,432m tall in just 6 weeks!
Things do not just happen
Well the question for many people is: Does the Bamboo grow in six weeks or in five years? The answer to this is obvious; five years, and not six weeks. During the five years, watering and fertilizing has to be done daily, failure of which the plant will die.
You might have a dream like a bamboo tree, you might not see what is happening in the ground, but there is certainly happening. You need to continue watering, and feeding your dream.
Protect that dream of yours; add life to it daily by watering it, and feeding it. One day, the plant will shoot to the surface; it will grow at a phenomenal rate and even amaze those people who used to scorn at you. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross puts across this life principle of process in a wider way: “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths.
“These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
There are two stories that illustrate the power of consistency that I want to share with you.
Jadav Payeng
This man might be unknown to many people, but his work is quite remarkable. It’s one advert on National Geographic that drew my attention and curiosity to the extent of researching more on this person. He is known as the “Forest Man of India”.
Since 1979, Payeng challenged by the death of several birds, and wildlife in his area, decided to plant trees. He has been planting trees every day since 1979, and by consistently doing so, he has managed to plant over 1 400 hectares of trees, creating a forest, and thus earning him the title “Forest Man of India”.
Wow impressive! This story illustrates a very important principle of consistency. You can do so much in life the moment you decide to be consistent. Payeng’s consistency and commitment provided inspiration for the advert by Prudential’s in South for their advertisement. You can watch the video online to have a visual appreciation of his work. “Consistency is the real currency that matters.”
Imagine what you can do with consistency?
Imagine how different your life will be if you consistently focused on developing yourself. If you are a student imagine what would happen if you consistently study your books, and commit to becoming a better person. You can change your life if you choose to be consistent at what you do.
One of the things I am often asked is how I manage to speak at big audiences and many other platforms that I speak. My answer to this is very simple, I speak consistently. I consistently practice speaking, I make it a point to rehearse my talks, and by doing this I improve my communication. I write every day. I do not sleep without writing something whether I am going to publish it or not.
Do something daily that will push you closer to what you want to achieve in life. No matter how small it might be, do something. Read something that puts you close, watch something daily that puts your closer to achieving your goals.
Consistency births habits
You can develop any habit. Human beings are habit driven creatures. Once you develop a habit your life will run in terms of that particular habit. As you start your day, habit runs your life.
Habits are acquired patterns of behaviour which are learned through consistent repetition. This means you can effectively develop any habit by deciding to do something consistently daily. You can decide to read every day and it becomes a habit.
Your life revolves around habits, if you want your life to change, change your habits.
The story of Cliff Young
A true story is told about a man called Cliff Young which I found inspiring. Between 1983 and 1991, Australia held an annual ultra-marathon of 875km. World’s most elite racers ran from Sydney to Melbourne in 5 days — these athletes trained specially for this event, which was considered one of the world’s most gruelling races.
One day, in 1983 a 61-year-old Australian potato farmer named Cliff Young entered the race. Cliff wore overalls and work boots. To everyone’s shock, Cliff wasn’t a spectator. He picked up his race number and joined the other runners.
The press and other athletes became curious and questioned Cliff. They told him: “You’re crazy, there’s no way you can finish this race.”
To which he replied: “Yes I can. See, I grew up on a farm where we couldn’t afford horses or tractors, and the whole time I was growing up, whenever the storms would roll in, I’d have to go out and round up the sheep.
“We had 2 000 sheep on 2 000 acres. Sometimes I would have to run those sheep for two or three days. It took a long time, but I’d always catch them. I believe I can run this race.”
All of the professional athletes knew that it took about 5 days to finish the race. In order to compete, one had to run about 18 hours a day and sleep the remaining 6 hours. The thing is, Cliff Young didn’t know that!
When the morning of the second day came, everyone was in for another surprise. Not only was Cliff still in the race, he had continued jogging all night.
Eventually Cliff was asked about his tactics for the rest of the race. To everyone’s disbelief, he claimed he would run straight through to the finish without sleeping.
Cliff’s story illustrates the power of consistency. Speed is not everything consistency is. You can arrive at your destination should you remain consistent at what you are focusing on.
Arthur Marara is a corporate law attorney, keynote speaker, business speaker commanding the stage with his delightful humor, raw energy, and wealth of life experiences. He is a financial wellness expert and is passionate about addressing the issues of wellness, strategy and personal development. Arthur is the author of the “Personal Development Toolkit” among other inspirational books. For feedback write to [email protected], or on +263772467255.
