Getting After It

164 - Consistency Over Everything: Sticking to Discipline

• Brett Rossell • Season 5 • Episode 164

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If you've ever struggled to stay consistent with your training, this episode is for you.

I’ve been there—tired, unmotivated, bored, over it. But I’ve also learned how to keep showing up when I don’t feel like it. In this solo episode, I break down the mental game of consistency. We’ll talk about identity, burnout, how to build momentum again after you fall off, and the routines that make it easier to keep going.

This isn’t about perfection—it’s about persistence.

We’ll cover:

  • The First Mile Rule and how it helps me push through resistance
  • Why identity matters more than motivation
  • How to deal with fatigue and burnout without giving up
  • Weekly systems I use to stay consistent and accountable
  • Sports psychology insights that actually work

Whether you’re training for a race, working on a personal goal, or trying to build better habits—this episode will help you stay in the game.

Keep Getting After It.

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I hope today’s episode sparked something within you to pursue your dreams and unlock your true potential. If you found value in it, consider sharing it with someone who might need that same push.

Getting After It is for those who. want to silence their self-doubt. Refuse to be owned by comfort. Understand their limits are man-made and breakable. We live in a time of constant comparison. Social media drowns us in highlight reels and overnight success stories. But what most people don’t see is the grit behind it all. The reps. The quiet mornings. The sacrifices. The failures.

You are just getting started. Keep Getting After It. 

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SPEAKER_00:

Friends, welcome back to the Getin' After It podcast. I am uh really excited you're here today. First off, I'm I I apologize, I am a little bit sick, so my voice sounds a little gross. Um maybe not gross, but I just sound like I'm congested. So bear with me through that. And um I also want to say thank you for all the support that we've been getting. The show has been it's been awesome. Um, seeing all the the comments and the uh shares on things like Spotify um on YouTube, we're starting to pick up some traction there. So it's it's really cool to see. Um it just gets me excited that more people are taking interest in the idea of getting after it and pushing themselves on a regular basis. Like it doesn't just have to be running, running's a good start, but how how you stay consistent in the long run. Like that is really what's kind of uh important about the getting after it movement is it's it's aimed for building consistency in yourself, which is exactly what we're talking about today. This is kind of a part two to the uh uh episode 162 that unfortunately Spotify has taken down. Um it's admin and appeal, but had some copyright music in there, so they took it down. Uh unfortunate, but I guess hey, we're getting to that level now, so it's kind of cool. Um, anyways, being consistent is one of arguably the hardest things to to do, really. Like starting is easy because there's a lot of excitement at the beginning. Anything that is novel, we can get really pumped about. You know, and think about hey, you know, it's I used to be this way as a kid at least, but I would always be excited for school to start. Like that first week of school was so awesome because I'd be able to show everyone my new outfits, my new backpack, my new lunchbox. Um, I'd see who my teacher was. Usually at the beginning of the like the school year, you don't really do much. You just go through the syllabus, maybe play some get to know you games, whatever. Um and that kind of goes away pretty quickly, right? Like once you get back in school, you start getting homework, you start um studying subjects that are a little difficult for you, then hey, that that excitement kind of dies away. And it's the same kind of story with everything that we do. And I I hear it a lot from runners that I talk to. It's just the hardest part of actually doing the thing is staying consistent and making sure that you're um still putting in the reps, still showing up for yourself. Uh, and again, this doesn't necessarily have to be just about running, but I think it's a great analogy. Doing anything difficult, that's a good analogy to think about with this episode. And um, so things like weightlifting, things like trading for a sport or running, uh starting a business, like starting a family, anything that's difficult, how do you remain consistent? How do you perform to uh the best of your abilities each and every day, especially when you don't want to? Like when that time comes, and everyone deals with this, is when you are grinding, you're pushing yourself, you're starting to either get burnt out, you're starting to get tired, you're starting to get bored, you're getting fatigued with whatever you're doing. Um, but that's when you have to look back at whatever you're doing. Like you have to think about your goal and say, hey, I'm still in this. And you have to show up for yourself. Um, the reality of inconsistency, though, is it's uh human nature. Like in in in all honesty, it really is human nature. Like everyone's been inconsistent at some point, including myself. There have been days where I've stared at my shoes more as enemies rather than something that's gonna help me accomplish my goal. And I'll get to the gym and I'm just like, I do not want to do this, I don't want to lift, I'm tired. Or I get to the trailhead and I'm like, I am really not looking forward to what's coming over these next two and a half hours. Like, whatever it is, um, you can kind of get burnt out a little bit, and um, you know, sometimes it's burnout, sometimes it's boredom, and sometimes it's just life being heavy at the time. Like there's a lot that's going on, and we all deal with different things. And so it's it's difficult to go through that, but honestly, that should give you some reassurance that you're not broken, you're not failing in any way. It's just honestly, it's human nature at that point. Like, we all fall off the wagon every now and then. What's important is that we get back on. Like, that is the most critical thing I could tell you uh when we talk about consistency is if you ever notice in yourself there's a lack of of consistency, you're you're starting to get inconsistent with your habits, and you notice that in yourself, the first thing that you need to do is immediately get back on. Like, start as small as you can, just do whatever you can do that day. Like, for example, if your goal is to train for a race and you've kind of fallen off, um, run a mile that day that you notice that. Be like, okay, well, let's at least get this momentum going. Because with consistency, momentum is going to be the biggest help in this journey. Like, you have to maintain momentum, you have to keep that going because otherwise you run the risk of, like I said, burning out, getting bored, or a number of other things you might run into. But at least jumping back on as soon as you can, that'll help you at least, you know, stay focused on your goal and hopefully get back on track. Um, because that really is what's important. And you know, we we call that resilience, being able to stay with something for a long time. And and when you do get knocked down, you get back up and you just keep on going, you keep on fighting. And consistency requires resilience because there are days when you're fatigued and you're exhausted, and um, you know, things are pretty difficult to pursue, and um you just have to keep taking one one step in front of another, and and until you get to that point to where you know you are starting to make that progress again and remain consistent on your goals. But just remember that it's something that we all face inconsistency and those kind of um problems that we deal with, they're they're human problems, they're not a you problem, they're not a me problem. Everyone has to deal with them, and and that's the important rule is that you just try, you just try to get back on track. And for me with running, um, if I ever notice myself slipping, or if I ever notice how like I'm exhausted and I am tired, I don't I like I can't train. That's an important thing for me. It's like understanding when you're just tired, or understanding when you need a a day to rest. And to be honest, I'm not great with this yet, but um one thing that does help me is if I start a run, I usually try and just do one mile, right? And this is going back to the like start small kind of things, just maintain that momentum. Um, I'll say, hey, if I run a mile and I'm not doing great at the end of it, then maybe I'll pull back and take a rest day. And so I start the mile, and depending on how I feel after that mile, I'll either keep going or pull back and say, no, I need a day. Um, it's rare when that happens, but it's important to be able to lean back on that and just say, hey, I'm gonna give it my all. And sometimes your all is gonna look like a mile. Like that is still consistency. That is still putting your goals out there. It's just, you know, you might need some time to recover, and that's completely fine too. You just have to listen to your body, and you you need to learn what your like what it feels like when you're going in the red line for so long, and also um, you know, when you're starting to feel better and in and go smoothly that way. So just a couple things to think about there is what's the smallest thing that you could do to maintain that momentum with your goals? Um, what are some triggers that you could use to help you stay on track when things get difficult and um maintain that motivation uh when it's arguably not there? Like that's important to do. Um you also need to remember your why. Like a big part of consistency is remembering why you're doing something in the first place. And for me, like running is kind of nice because I usually train for races. Like I have a 50-mile race coming up in April, and if I don't train for that, then I'm gonna be in a lot of trouble April 18th when I go and run my first 50 mile race. And so that's like a good reason for me to push myself, but I lean back on the why. My true why for why I run is is basically because I know what it's like to not be able to. I was told by doctors that I, you know, ran the risk of having a heart attack if I ran a half marathon. Um, and that sucked. That was not fun. And I know there's so many other people out there who don't have that opportunity, so I I always remember those people too. I try and think of them. That keeps me going, and um, that's my main why for why I run. And the podcast, like the reason I keep these episodes coming every single week, and I I push them out to as many people as I can. I try and get this message out to people, is because I know how beneficial it has been in my life, and I know that it can really do well for others as well, like the same kind of thing. I know it can really do wonders for people who apply these principles into their lives. Like you will become someone who you never thought was possible, and that's why I think it's so cool, it's because everyone goes through these transformations, um, and by the end of it, everyone has way more confidence when they do apply these principles correctly. And like I think of Drew, I think of my my mom who's been getting after for years, um, like Allie, her brother. There's so many people who I I just look to who are really trying to achieve um achieve greatness in their lives. And it's through small steps, it's not through major major steps that um seem like an overnight success. No, it's the small and consistent ones that really really build people up and really um do wonders for others. And one part of like I hear this a lot too. When I talk to people who say they're not consistent or anything like that, they will say that. They'll be like, oh yeah, I know I'm just not a consistent person. Like I can't stay with something for so long. I and then they'll they'll list off their excuses, like, oh, I get bored. Um, you know, I'm I'm fatigued a lot. I I have a job, I have to go home and you know be with my family, like all these things, which are valid excuses. But at the end of the day, it's like, okay, well, does it matter to you enough to make time for it? Because arguably, I think any pursuit that you want to do, you can find time in your day to make it happen. You can cut down screen time, you can cut down Netflix time, you can cut down um time spent doing you know tedious or or stupid tasks that don't bring you any value. Um and that's the thing, it's just like when you eliminate the excuses when you don't allow them to show up, and you say, you know what, I am I am a consistent person, then hey, you identify as that and you become consistent. It's it sounds like some woo-woo stuff and some cliche crap, but it truly is like that is a powerful tool to use, is saying, like, hey, I know I am a consistent person, or I'm a runner, or I'm someone who goes to the gym every day. And then you show up for that. Like, even if it's not great, even if it's not the best workout you ever had, but at least you still showed up. And that's what consistency is all about is showing up, especially when it gets difficult, when life starts getting heavy, when there's so many things happening at work with your family and um in the world, that you still make time for the things that matter to you. Like that is important, and you need that. Like everyone is an individual person, and we all have different desires, we all have different wants. And you can't go about your life just focusing so much on focusing so much on like your career and your family, but not not give any time for yourself. And that might be a might be a rough thing to to say, but I think that is true. Like, I've done that before in my life. I've I've tried, you know, being there for other people more than myself, and it's almost like that um it's kind of like that analogy with the you know, you you're losing altitude in a plane, and the um oxygen masks pop out from the ceiling, and you have to put yourself yours on first before helping others. And I feel like a lot of the times, like when you have a goal, like if you show up for that goal, if you're doing what you can in your life, like to balance it, and sometimes you know, one each day is gonna look different in terms of how close you get towards that goal and how much progress you make towards that goal. Sometimes it's gonna be small, sometimes it might look bigger than others. But if you make that time for yourself to pursue something great, then I think one, you'll have more confidence in yourself, and two, you'll have a better relationship with yourself. Like you need to still learn who you are. As weird as that sounds, like I still find out some things about myself that I was like, hey, you know what? That's that's kind of cool. Like, I I still am learning who I am. I'm 28 years old, and I'm sure that'll go until I'm you know on on my deathbed. Like I'm sure I'll always be learning things about myself. And um, I I just am passionate that you need that time to to be able to have that to decompress for yourself, to be able to forget the worries of the world, and I wouldn't necessarily say forget your responsibilities, but maybe take a break from them. Like, and this might be bad advice, but it helps me. Like anytime I'm having a day where I'm stressed at work and I didn't work out that morning, um I'll go work out and I'll feel 100% better. Like, ask Allie, she's seen it before, where I'm just a grumpy guy, and then she will literally tell me she's like, go work out, and I'll go work out, come home, and I'm in a much better mood. And it's just weird. Like, if I didn't have that, if I didn't have that outlet, and that's kind of what it is for me as an outlet, um, I think I would be a lot more angry. And I'm just glad that I I figured it out as early as I did. But you might be feeling that way right now. You might be feeling kind of how I feel when I'm not able to work out and I have a rough day at work. And you might be grumpy. And maybe it's because you you let your hobby sit on the shelf for too long. Maybe it's because you've said you're gonna do um, maybe you said you're gonna do a half marathon for the last four years in a row, and you haven't done it yet. And so you have to gain that confidence back in yourself that you can do hard things. And that's why I think it's important to give yourself time to work on your own pursuits. But don't put that over other people. Don't put that over your family, don't put that over your career, don't put that over you know, your faith. You need to make time for those things too. Like this should be your but make sure you're just balancing um time for others as well as well as time for you. Like you need that just as much as um anyone else. Like do not allow yourself to to uh fall off in that way. Um but really quickly I want to talk about dealing with fatigue and burnout because I feel like that's a common thing that many people struggle with, including myself. Like that is something that I still deal with to this game or to this day, but I've realized that fatigue is actually just part of the game. That is part of the game. Some days you push through it, like I mentioned earlier, um, but other days you need to rest so you can come back stronger. And again, I'm still learning this. I've I've pushed too hard, I've I've ignored the signals many times. Um, and anytime I do, like my self-talk goes pretty dark, um, especially when I miss workouts. Um But what I'm learning is that rest, if done properly, can become a weapon. And burnout isn't necessarily it's not a sign of weakness from you. It's it's more feedback. Like, hey, you're in the red line, you're going too hard too too long. Like, let's tone it back a little bit. Let's see what we can do to take those smaller steps to get to that point. Um, so don't don't feel like you're weak if you, you know, need some rest from your goals. And you know, we've been talking about being consistent a lot of the times, but um oddly enough, I have seen like, you know, I've I've coached a few people and they've told me like I am exhausted. And I will tell them, and my coach did this to me too. But just saying, hey, listen, just take a week off, like, do not run, just take a week off. You might need that. Fuel up, eat good, um, just take care of your body. And then usually after that week, they come back hungry. Like they're like, okay, I'm ready to run. Like, I want to get back into the things. And I did that to my coach too. I was like, okay, this is like I had my rest week, like, let's get back into things. And again, it doesn't have to be running. Like, if it's a hobby or a business or something else, and you're just burning yourself out, you're you're burning the candle at both ends. Then maybe it's okay to say, okay, I'm just gonna take a day from this. Like, I think it would be better for me to not have this cloud my mind all day, every day. And so just take a step back and be like, okay, well, I'll I'll come back to this. Like, there's nothing wrong with that. And as long as you jump back on and keep that momentum rolling, sometimes rust, like I said, if used properly, can be a weapon for you. And it can be a good, a good tactic to keep in your back pocket. Be like, hey, you know what? This isn't something that I have to do every single day that will, in fact, um determine the quality of my life, right? It's you know, you might need some time just to relax a little bit. Um, the other thing I would say is consistency thrives on support. Like having accountability partners. It's it's why Drew and I we talk every Sunday night. Um, kind of just in that conversation, we have a review of the previous week, you know, what we did well, how we did in training, um, areas that we need to improve on. And then when we're talking about the upcoming week, we will set goals for that week. We'll talk about our training plans, um, what we're gonna be doing to stay consistent. Uh, we'll talk about our personal goals, our our uh spiritual goals, you know, financial goals, all these different things. But it just makes it easy for me to be able to be like, hey, you know what? Drew and I are trying to kind of do the same things together. You know, we have these spiritual goals, we have these financial goals, we have these fitness goals and these personal goals that we're all trying to strive on. Um, him and I are in the same boat. And then we talk about our training. And um, whenever I'm tired and like I'm having a hard day, I think about like I think about Drew or the other people that I'm I'm training with too. It's like they're humans, they probably have the same kind of feelings that I do from time to time, and they're still showing up and and pushing through, so I can too. And I don't know, it just gives me a little bit more um success, I think, with being consistent is being able to rely on others and have them close. So what I would say is like if you have a spouse or a really close friend, a parent that you can reach out to and say, hey, I'm doing this thing. Um, I just want to talk to you about it every week, like talk to you about my progress. And I would love for you to hold me accountable and and just check in on me, you know, every now and then. I think people really respect that and they appreciate it too. It makes them feel like you trust their opinion, you trust their um judgment of you, and um, you know, they won't let you, they won't let you slip. If they're a good accountability partner, they will not let you slip. So choose them wisely. But it is a I wouldn't say a cheat code, but it's very helpful. Like, do it with someone, get a friend, get them into running, get them into training, get them into your business, like whatever thing you're trying to pursue, do it with some other people. You don't have to go at this alone, and that's what many people think, um, or I think a lot of people fail with consistency, is they feel like they are, in fact, going at it alone. They feel like they are doing this thing, they're they're the only ones out there who are pushing themselves the way that they do. And in reality, that's not true. Anyone who's trying to get after it, they're all gonna be pushing themselves, they're all gonna be trying to do something difficult and and really um improve their lives just through their actions. And so getting after it, like the whole idea of this community is to build an ecosystem of people who are in that same boat, who can help each other out, who can rely on one another when things get rough, who can give advice, who can chime in, say, hey, listen, I was dealing with burnout a couple weeks ago. Here's what I did, this might help you. And everyone's story is going to be different. That's what getting after it also emphasizes is that, hey, listen, we're not from the same circumstances, we're not from the same um places, you know, we're different body types, different athletic types, but we're all trying to do something difficult, we're all trying to make progress in our own ways, and we want to help each each and every single one of the people in the community get there. That's the goal. There's enough to go around for everyone for success. And anyone who tells you otherwise is a loser, and you should get them out of your life. Everyone can be successful. And it's easier to do it with other people. So if you're listening to this, I just want to push you this week to maybe find a few more things you can be consistent about. Really take a uh audit of your your habits, your choices, and what you do, and see if there's some things that you can improve. Most likely there are. And when you find that, don't feel like you're you're broken. Um, just take it as feedback that you can get better, that you can improve, because you can. And that's what this is all about is just slowly getting better each and every day. So I I hope that this helped at all. Um, if you're dealing with inconsistency or if you're just looking to be a little bit more consistent, I hope some of these things that I said can help you on that path. And uh if it helped at all, please leave a like uh on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or YouTube. Um, it all helps and at least just gives uh gives a little more gives it a little more traction in the algorithm to get up on more people's feed. So appreciate your guys' support. Thank you so much for listening to this episode, and as always, keep getting after it. Thanks, guys.