There are various reasons people have trouble maintaining consistency while pursuing their goals. Speaking for myself, when I’m doing activities that are tedious and uncomfortable, it’s hard to remain consistent, even if the task is beneficial to me in the long term. The process of change is challenging, if we could reap the rewards without putting in the work, everyone would be successful at achieving their goals.

For everyone who may be struggling to keep going through a difficult process here’s some advice that may help you. The PERMA Model was developed by psychologist, Martin Seligman. PERMA stands for (P) positive emotion, (E) engagement, (R) positive relationships, (M) meaning, and (A) accomplishment/achievement. So basically if you can incorporate some of these elements into what you’re doing to reach a goal, you’ll be more connected to your goal and more likely to remain consistent.

I’ll use the example from my previous post about losing weight since that’s one of the most common New Year’s resolutions. If I wanted to lose weight, I’d do a physical activity that I enjoy to generate (P-positive emotions). I like walking but in order create (E-engagement) I’d choose a scenic trail that has surroundings that interests me to look at while I’m walking. To add (R-positive relationships) I’d walk with a friend to have fun talking while we walk. I’d include (M-meaning) by entering a charity walk for a cause that I care about like breast cancer fundraising and to produce (A-accomplishment/achievement) I’d train for a challenging distance for me which would be a half- marathon.

You may not be able to add all 5 elements but the more you can incorporate these in your activities, the more fulfilling the process will be. The more (connected) emotionally invested you are to your goal, the less likely you are to quit.