Shradha Khapra is a renowned teacher and an Education influencer. With more than 6 million subscribers, she has helped millions of people learn to code,
free of charge. The co-founder of Apna College, in a recent LinkedIn post, touched upon one of the most common frustrations of students: consistency. It has happened to almost everyone to feel frustrated because of failing to be consistent. We make plans, we have ambitions, and we are motivated initially, but we just cannot maintain them. It puts us in doubt about our discipline. However, what happens when the issue is not a lack of motivation? According to Shradha Khapra, the underrated factor is what we pay little attention to, our environment. She highlights, “Environment, Environment, Environment — it’s the single most important & often underrated factor.” According to Shradha Khapra, this means that consistency is not just a personal trait, but a result of external conditions. Whichever way we are in the environment, it either works towards our goals or distracts us. If our surroundings are filled with distractions or lack structure, staying consistent becomes much more difficult, regardless of how motivated we feel. She further explains that people often search for some “secret knowledge” that will suddenly make them disciplined, but in reality, there is none. A combination of small steps is involved in creating consistency, and the first step is to change our surroundings. As she suggests, if we spend hours on social media but our goals have nothing to do with it, we can start by decreasing or even removing those distractions. Besides this, she also puts an emphasis on structure. Many individuals have clear goals but fail to set aside dedicated time to work towards them. Progress is not defined by a definite schedule or deadline, but rather by mood, which is not constant. It becomes more convenient to keep track by planning how to allocate a certain period of time to various important tasks. She also points out the mental aspect of consistency. Achieving goals is not always exciting or easy. It often involves repeatedly doing tasks that feel boring and difficult. One needs to be psychologically ready to put in such an effort to enjoy the benefits of accomplishing the long-term objectives. As she suggests, unless anything in our surroundings changes, nothing in our outcomes will change. Very minor and deliberate changes can make a big difference in the long term. There is a clear message at the end of the post: consistency is not waiting to be motivated, but ensuring that the right environment is created that allows progress to be made. It helps students to consider their existing routines and environments, and then to make effective changes that will bring them closer to their objectives.
