Inconsistent Energy? Thrive In A Consistent World: 4 Tips

Manifestors in human design are not built to be consistent. Yet the world is built for consistency. Here are 4 tips to thrive with inconsistent energy.

We’re taught that in order to be successful or see results in life we need to be consistent. Consistent in the way we eat, exercise, work, sleep, or create – without that all important C word, we have been conditioned to believe we will fail. Or that we are somehow less worthy than, or that we don’t add as much value as, those who have aced the lesson of consistency. Even the algorithms in today’s social platforms give you bonus points for posting a certain type of content consistently.

I have vague recollections of employers telling me that my work is really good, but I am inconsistent, which is something I would need to fix to get to the next level in my career. I think back on school and my inability to consistently show up, pay attention, and do my homework. That my grades would have been better if I could just be consistent. I just watched my partner get to his goal weight in something like four or six weeks from consistently eating better and working out 5-6 times a week.

All of it just makes me want to take a nap.

I’ve personally developed a lot of shadow and shame because I am incapable of being consistent for long stretches of time with pretty much everything in my life. I can’t make a 30-day challenge or repeatable routines and tasks in my professional and personal life work. It also doesn’t seem to matter what my goal is – write a novel, grow my business, get my ideal body, change my diet – the minute I tell myself I just need to be consistent and do a little bit every day, I am met with anger, resentment, and rebellion.

Several years ago, when I learned that I am in a Manifestor in human design (and I have an undefined root center), I started to feel some relief from the shame and shadow I have/had around consistency. I am quite literally not built for it. It wasn’t until recently, however, that I realized that while I have the information, I haven’t been great at putting it into action for the last couple of years.

I’ve been putting myself into a super weird and self-defeating cycle, and while I feel it in my personal life, it’s really highlighted in my corporate career. I will feel incredible anger, resistance, and shame because despite it being a Wednesday with an open calendar and three key tasks that need to be completed…I can’t bring myself to do the work. When I try, my brain immediately goes into a fog. Cue more anger, frustration, and shame.

As I have been thinking about this cycle and what an absolute waste of my energy it is, my brain surfaces memories of all the praise I get when I act like I am capable of being consistent. Like when my coach praises me because my business Instagram is always updated and on point. My partner praising me for exercising multiple days in a row – which he does because I ask him to. Because I think it will help me be more consistent and reach my goals 🤦🏻‍♀️

Truth? Neither of these things feel good, authentic, or energizing. They leave me feeling exhausted. The worst part? I do all of this and never achieve the results I desire.

So I decided that I am letting all of that go. I am going to instead focus on the ways I can support my urges and move into what feels really aligned for me.

I have had a lot of success in corporate environments when I have stayed in my authenticity – and I know that this can be the hardest place to do it as an inconsistent being. 

Here are 4 practical tips for the inconsistent among us to feel peaceful in predominantly consistent environments. 

Look for impact. I understand that I work in urges and that when an urge hits, I am able to crush big projects that have a long-lasting impact. If you are someone who has a traditional job and you are also a Manifestor, consider what you are doing or creating that is having an impact.

In my 9-5, this looks like having a vision for a product launch and mapping it out, creating messaging, and then distributing tasks to the rest of my team or other members in the organization to complete. There are set deadlines and weekly check-ins via Slack, and we only have meetings for the launch if we find them necessary. Not only have I created repeatable templates and processes, others have felt the impact as a stress-free launch that goes off with minimal hitches. Plus, launches done well can have a long-term impact on company revenue.

Work in Sprints. I work in the tech space and there is a practice of being agile and working in sprints. I lead my team and set us up to work in two-week sprints. The mechanics of it are really simple in that we only take on work for which we have open calendar space. If in the 80 hours of the sprint I have 70 hours of meetings, then I only have just under a day and a half to do focused work. This means that once I have gotten clear on the tasks or projects I have waiting in the wings and they are mapped to the needs of the business, I am only taking on what I have time for in the 10 hours left. Which is usually more like 6-8 hours because things come up or I am not in an urge.

It’s really important that you notice that work is planned based on a 40-hour work week. Not more. My team is highly functioning and gets a lot done. We are ruthless in our prioritization and we have strong boundaries. And yes, we may be a little bit tired…but we have been able to avoid overwhelm and burnout because of this process.

Sprint planning has worked relatively well for me because it builds a container of consistency for me to create an urge within. It does, however, create some pressure when the team holds a retrospective and I feel shadowy for not having done everything I set out to do.

On other fun note on this process: because it has worked so well, it has had ripple effects outward. Other teams have asked to sit in on our sprint planning meetings so that they can learn and apply it to their own work. This is another way that I have been able to create meaningful impact within the business that will have long-term benefits to the bottom line. 

Rest and/or play. When I actually give myself permission to sit on the couch with my laptop beside me while I take a nap, watch a show, read a book, or scroll for inspiration on Pinterest, I find that I am able to generate mini urges. Same goes for when I decide to go outside for a walk, do a short yoga class, or play fetch with my dog. Hell, even when I do some laundry or unload the dishwasher. On the days that I am feeling too shadowy/guilty about my rest or play time being off topic, I will scroll through competitive analysis and tech blog feeds or flip through the latest win/loss reports to see what’s happening in the market. All while sitting on the couch or in an Adirondack chair in the sun, weather permitting.

The point is, when I don’t have an urge and I surrender by either resting or doing something that feels fun or impactful, I feel more peaceful and an urge will naturally arise. Even if it is just enough to send off a few emails or make adjustments to a dynamic document.

Play the long game. This may be more specific to me because I have inner vision, but I imagine there is some flavor of this for everyone. When you understand what the business is trying to achieve and the role you have been tapped to play in achieving it, get clear on what your vision for yourself is in making that happen. When you have set the vision – or perhaps you’d like to call it an intention – the urges will follow that help you get there. One of my favorite things about being a Manifestor is that the urges don’t always make sense, but it feels fun when you follow them and the reasoning starts to become clear.

For example, a few years ago I had an urge to do research on a topic was a little more thought-leadership driven and less product-centric. When the work was done and the report was put in front of the CEO, it took months and removing a core part of the findings to get approval to finally launch it into the market. In the time it took for the approval to come through, there were countless incidents in the market that tied directly back to the research I had done and would have been incredible for reputation and awareness building. Which would ultimately have had a positive benefit on the bottom-line in the long term as we continued to demonstrate our leadership in the market.

This was translated as though I had a crystal ball…but really, I just had an urge and the data supporting it appeared later.  

The more I let myself follow the urges, the more I find success, and the more others trust in my process because I find success. This may take time, or a really big win, but it is worth playing the long game and trusting yourself. 

When you focus on finding and demonstrating the impact of what you are doing, others stop trying to focus on your consistency and instead look to the results. At the end of the day, if you’re all working toward the same goal and focusing on the outcome, it doesn’t much matter that you get there by taking the same path.