'A skill transforms into an instinct with practice and consistency.' Consistency is the embodiment of constancy in purpose, which can forge a talent into genius. Look at videos of Pele beating an army of midfielders and defenders to score a goal single-handedly, watch Nadia Comăneci score the first perfect ten, with a flawless routine on the vault, watch the cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar as he hits the most beautiful straight drive, see Michael Jordan fly towards the hoop scoring the most beautiful dunk and you see geniuses at work, who have perfected their talents and skills to transform them into instincts. No doubt that these athletes are recipients of God given talents, but then there are many such gifted youngsters out there who are not Jordan, Pele or Comăneci. What set them apart was their consistency and unwavering determination, which ultimately led to success. Maintaining their position at the top required consistent performance, making them legends of the game. Consistency as the Key to Success There are many people I have known, who could have had the world at their feet, on the basis of their sheer talent. Sadly, most of them are lost wrecks today as despite the talent, they never had the consistency and discipline required, that forges raw talent into a great career. It is sad to see such great gifts squandered away, for lack of willingness to work hard. Many people confuse consistency with a rigid or biased style of doing things. Nothing could be further from the truth. When I talk about consistency as the key to success, what I'm talking about is disciplined effort, day in and day out, working towards the achievement of your goals. I do not profess dogmatism and rigidity in approach to your work. In short, I define it as persistent effort. While you need the right strategy to succeed, what actually makes it work is - flawless execution. For sportsmen, it is preparing for all eventualities that they might face during a game. A tennis player cannot strategize and plan his game, when the opponent has served the ball and it's heading towards him. He just reacts to that serve on the basis of his instincts acquired during practice. When he hits it back perfectly, what you see is only his on field effort. Years of consistent practice have gone into perfecting that single shot, so that hitting the ball is no longer an act of thought but pure instinct at work! Consistency is all about developing your own daily routine on the basis of your long term objectives and sticking to it. Success is not a destination but a journey where you pass through hundreds of goals on your way and what keeps you on track is consistency. For any goal to be achieved, including anything from losing ten pounds to scaling Mount Everest, consistent effort every day is the only thing that's going to get you there. Each day you get closer with every little step taken. That's how winning is done. Life is a series of moments and investing well in every one of them is bound to bring your dreams closer to reality. Consistency of purpose sets the winners apart from 'also rans'. It's not about just talent. It's about how consistently you apply yourself everyday to move towards the accomplishment of your goals. Focusing on 'Right Now' and giving it all you've got, with single minded determination, day in and day out, is guaranteed to bring you success in any endeavor!