When you think about consistency, what is the first word or the first emotions that come to mind? What do you first feel when you think of someone who is consistent?

If you think of a business that is reliable and trustworthy, what feelings does that evoke? Is this a place of business that you want to visit again and again? Is this somewhere that you feel comfortable spending your money as often? Is it a place that feels actually rewarding and fun to shop at?

The answers to those questions are probably yes because consistency is a big reason why people bring their business back to the same companies again and again. When they are spending money, they are voting with their wallets. They are saying that they feel like they can count on this company and their products, their sales people, their entire vision and culture.

The same is true with people. Consistency can go a long way to forge strong friendships, get good jobs, create communities, and manufacture a personal environment that is peaceful and rewarding and strong.

If you want to have real relationships and real success at work and a future that is bright and promising, you need to be a consistent person and do consistent work and regularly show others that you can be trusted.

But before you can do that, before you can really start to live a consistent life and be a consistent person, you need to know what consistency is and why it is so important. Why do so many people look for it in business and in personal life? Why does this facet of someone or some company rise above all others?

Consistency is the act of regularly doing something well without being reminded. It’s being reliable, it’s being trustworthy, it’s delivering on your promises without being prompted and doing it again and again

The post office is consistent. The nightly news is consistent. Unfortunately, the IRS is consistent. These are all entities that get their jobs done without being told to and they have acted correctly for generations now. They don’t need to be guided, they don’t need to be told what to do. They know their purpose and the task at hand and they complete it on their own, free of mentorship and usually assistance.

Throughout your life, you have met with and worked with plenty of people and business entities that have and have not been consistent. You have experienced the good and bad of consistency. You have people who are always late and you have people who are always on time, sometimes even early. You have companies that deliver their goods and services on time without any issues and you have others who have to be called and hounded to accomplish a very simple task that they promised to you weeks ago.

You know that a life with consistency is much calmer and easier because there are no surprises. You know what is promised and you know that you can expect that promise to be done without any hassle.

You also know that a life without consistency is the opposite. You are always on your toes, you are always a bit anxious, you are always feeling like the other shoe is going to drop and you are going to have to do extra work because you cannot count on people.

As you can imagine, all of this can have both a positive and negative impact on the relationships in your life. Building connections with people who are and are not consistent can be both rewarding and very challenging. And you might find that you’re the type of person who cannot have a meaningful friendship or relationship without someone who will not deliver on promises and cannot keep up their end of any deals.

This is why consistency is so important. On the surface, some people don’t see it as a very important characteristic and value in life but, in reality, it’s crucial. It can make or break relationships and personal lives but it can also make or break businesses and your financial future and wellbeing.

In the chapters ahead, we will take a deeper dive into what consistency is. By doing so, we will examine the ways you see it – and the ways you don’t – in the real world and the influence it has had on you and your money and your life at home and at work.

They say that trust is the most important thing you can earn with other people and that is definitely the truth. Trust is a major component of consistency. Therefore, consistency is one of the most important things you can give someone else. Let’s explore why – and let’s help you become the consistent person you can be.