The Rarest of Human Qualities (If Cultivated) Can Unlock Superhuman Potential

As of September 7th, click HERE to listen to this story and an interview with Andy Murphy on Write Here, Write Now, Vocal's new podcast.

"The rarest of human qualities is consistency" - Jeremy Bentham

Wherever you look, successful people all say the same thing. 

They all have their own way of saying it, of course, but when it comes down to it, there is only one word - consistency. 

"I shoot hoops everyday" Basketball players say.

"I run everyday" Marathons runners say. 

"I write everyday" Writer's say. 

"I dance everyday" Dancers say. 

"I get in character everyday" Actors say. 

"I strum my guitar everyday" Guitarists say…

And on and on it goes. 

Their job description changes but ordinary people that do the same thing over and over and over again ultimately become successful. 

Consistency is still King (or Queen - or whatever a non-binary royalty figure is these days?) 

The only thing is, no one wants to believe it because it's not all that exciting. And it certainly lacks sex appeal.  

However, everyone still wants to become a master. The trouble is few people are willing to put in the time and effort that mastery takes. 

If anything, mastery is as much about hard work as it is about talent. Or as Thomas Edison wonderfully once put it - "Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration." 

Consistency can make us sweat and we don't always like that. 

"We often miss opportunity because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work" - Thomas Edison

No one wants to hear that if we just stick in their we'll eventually get to where we want to go. No one wants to hear it because it's on par with "suck it up" or "only the weak cry."

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's true. Not the only-the-weak-cry part but the sticking in there part. After all, I have seen many great things come from a good sob but not much from a lack of commitment. 

That doesn't mean that its all doom and gloom from here on in. It can mean the opposite, in fact.

You see, if you know that you'll get "there" eventually, you can enjoy the process every step of the way. You can even fling your hands above your head as you fly around on this rollercoaster we call life.

"Many of life's failures are people who did realize how close they were to success when they gave up" - Thomas Edison

10,000 hours

Malcolm Gladwell famously calculated mastery to take upwards of 10,000 hours.  

To put that into context, if you worked on the same thing for 50 hours a week 4 years straight (without taking a single day off) you would be somewhere close. Some people need double that. Most people need triple. 

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The tricky part about nurturing and building consistency is that we live in a world whereby we want everything now and tomorrow's too late already. Everyone's looking for the next buzz, whether it be a new side hustle, career, teacher, online course, fashion statement, an alternative to bitcoin, electric car, writing platform, or Tiktok phenomenon. 

In that way, it doesn't surprise me (although it's depressing to think about) that only 8% of the population are living the lives they want to be living. 

When I read this statistic I shuddered. And I wanted somehow find a way to tip those scales in the opposite direction.

So, take them or leave them but below are 3 tools that I've seen that can unlock your superhuman potential. 

1. Set and achieve small, bite-sized goals

Going after a dream can feel overwhelming, almost to the point of paralysis. Small, bite-sized chunks, on the other hand, are far more manageable.

Achieving these manageable goals helps to release small bursts of dopamine too. This then tells the brain and the heart to continue doing what it's doing because it's working. It's really working.

It might still be a little far away but tiny steps forward can make huge inroads. Or as Mark Twain once said - "The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one." 

The 1% rule 

If you commit to improving yourself by just 1% every day, in 100 days you'll be 100% better off than where you are right now. And in a year? You'll be 365% better off. That's huge!

And just so you know - 1% of 24 hours is 20 minutes. So, having a daily practice of just 20 minutes every day is the 1% that you need.

We don't have to do big things to make a big impact either. Sometimes all it takes is putting one foot in front of the over and knowing that that is also progress.

"Success is not a big step in the future, success is a small step taken right now" - Jonatan Mårtensson

So, take tiny steps forward. I promise you that you won't believe how far you've come when you take a moment to pause and look back. 

"Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection." - Mark Twain

2. Let your life be inspirational to others

"Be the change you wish to see in the world" - Mahatma Gandhi

The most contagious source of inspiration is happiness and the best way to continue doing anything is because it brings us joy. 

So, live a life that lights you up, makes you feel alive, takes you on adventures, teaches you great things, helps you learn, connect, share, and grow from your heart. 

If you're inspired by life, that's all the encouragement you'll ever need. Success finds committed (and consistent) people but rarely is it ever the other way around. 

3. Give away all that you have learned

This might sound counter-intuitive at first but bear with me. 

Everything you think, know, believe, and trust in life you learned from someone else. They didn't own the knowledge they passed on just the same way we don't. 

When we see that we are a part of a beautiful relay race that stretches through the vastness of eternity, there is nothing to hold onto as nothing is ours to keep.

So, share your gifts, recycle what you've learned, and dispense it as something that's current and fresh.

Be brave enough to let go. And remember that in letting go, you're actually creating space for exciting unknown opportunities to come into your life.

A key sign that you're on the right path is your willingness and ability to let go and surrender. 

Consistency, among many things, reminds us that's always more to come. 

Consistencies unspoken hero 

Courage.

It's so rarely spoken about but without it, no one would have the stamina to go after their dreams. And we need it by the bucket load. 

We need it to: 

• Be seen
• Be heard
• Share our love and vulnerability 
• Visualise a better future for ourselves and go after it 
• Let people go from our lives that hold us back or want us to keep playing small
• Make money online 
• Follow passions 
• Build relationships 

And this list could go on!

As much as consistency is the rarest of human qualities, courage is the unspoken hero that makes us show up every day. Without courage, consistency simply doesn't happen. 

"Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work." - Stephen King 

Closing thoughts 

I'd like to leave you with one more pertinent quote from Thomas Edison as he's perhaps one of the most committed and consistent minds of all time. 

And if you're wondering who the hell is Thomas Edison, he's the light bulb guy that's lighting up your screen. He also famously said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work". 

See what I mean? 

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving in. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."