Consistency Isn’t Sexy

Most people brush their teeth twice a day (hopefully you brush at least once!). I brush my teeth once in the morning and once at night. I also floss every night. But I didn’t use to floss every day. I used to floss once in a while, when I remembered, which was once or maybe twice a week on a “good” week. I also religiously go to the dentist for a cleaning twice a year.

A month or so after I started flossing daily, I had an appointment for a teeth cleaning. I started flossing everyday about a month before I went in for my cleaning. My dental hygienist who I’ve had for years couldn’t tell that I had been flossing regularly. In other words, she couldn’t see any change or improvement in the health of my teeth.

I continued flossing nightly and returned to my dental hygienist six months later. When I went back, it was the fastest and easiest cleaning I ever had! She said that my teeth looked beautiful and I had very little plaque. She was pleased and I was thrilled!

At first it was hard for me to remember flossing regularly, but I started taking the floss out of the medicine cabinet where I could see it every night. Before I knew it, it became a habit. So much so that I would be daydreaming while getting ready for bed and get back to reality to realize I was flossing my teeth. It finally became a habit – something I didn’t have to think about doing anymore because it just a part of my nightly routine.

By finding a way to remember flossing my teeth every night by putting it somewhere I could see, it eventually became a healthy habit. A month into my healthy habit, my dental hygienist couldn’t tell, but six months in, I had remarkable results.

Consistency isn’t sexy, but it’s the discipline of doing the right thing every day whether or not you feel like it, because you know it’s good for you.

Whether you choose to go to the gym every Monday and Wednesday, take your lunch to work every Friday instead of eating out with your co-workers, or cook one healthy meal a week for your family instead of grabbing that usual Tuesday Chinese take-out, you may not see the results today or tomorrow, or even a month from now.  But trust in the truth that it is always the little things done consistently over time that bring about the breakthroughs that you see.

What small “unsexy” healthy habit can you start implementing consistently in your life today? Share it over on my Facebook page and we will help to keep you accountable!