Redefining Consistency - Win Your Own Race
I’ve seen so many posts about how to create good habits, and they often focus on one key principle, consistency. Consistency, of course, is helpful when building and maintaining good habits, but let’s be honest, an ADHD brain isn’t always great with consistency. This message can sometimes feel like an echo of the old ‘just try harder’ mantra.
How many of us have those ‘try harder’ words looping in our heads, day after day, week after week? Just try harder. Just be more consistent. Just do what everyone else is doing. But what if trying harder to be consistent in a way that isn’t natural to you, is actually holding you back and creating stress and burnout.
The ADHD Hare and the Marathon Myth
Let’s reimagine the well-known story, the Hare sprints ahead quickly at the start of the race but then takes a break, only to be overtaken by the slow and steady Tortoise. The moral? ‘Slow and steady wins the race.’ But what if we look at this tale through the lens of an ADHD brain?
The Hare, with its bursts of energy and speed, is clearly an ADHDer. It’s wired for sprinting, short bursts of focus and productivity, followed by a need for rest. But what happens if the Hare is told that the only way to win is by running like a Tortoise. Slow, steady, and consistent over long periods?
The Hare might try. It might push itself to keep a marathon pace, using sheer willpower (or even shame) as motivation. But over time, the energy required to force itself into a rhythm that doesn’t align with its natural strengths will take its toll. Burnout, chronic stress, and exhaustion are inevitable when you try to sustain a way of working that isn’t suited to how your brain functions.
What If the Hare Ran Like a Hare?
Now, imagine the Hare had a realisation: I am a Hare. Hares are sprinters. Instead of trying to force itself into being a marathon runner, the Hare embraces its natural rhythm. Working in intense bursts, followed by rest and recovery.
What if sprinting was okay? What if taking a break was also okay? What if finishing the race in its own way, on its own terms, was not only acceptable but actually the best way forward?
Rather than striving for the consistency of a Tortoise, the Hare could redefine success using its own internal terms. Instead of feeling like a failure for not maintaining a marathon pace, the Hare could create habits that work with its strengths, leaning into focus when it strikes, setting up its environment to support action, and allowing rest to be a part of the process, to build up energy ready for the next sprint.
Writing Your Own Narrative
Instead of trying to fit into someone else’s blueprint for success, you get to design a framework that aligns with how you work best. One of the first steps in rewriting your narrative is to start noticing the “shoulds” that show up in your self-talk. “I should be more consistent.” “I should be able to do this like everyone else.” These thoughts are often internal echoes of expectations you've picked up from school, work, or society, rather than reflections of your actual needs or abilities. When you catch a “should” creeping in, pause and ask yourself: Whose voice is this? Is this actually true for me? Shining a light on these patterns is the beginning of changing them.
Maybe it’s time to stop trying to run a marathon and instead start thriving as the sprinter you were always meant to be. Be consistent in your own way, by showing up, again and again, whenever and however you can.