Be a consistent tortoise

By Kerryn Vaughan

14th Dec 2021

No doubt you know the fable of the tortoise and the hare, but here’s a reminder, wrapped up succinctly…

One day the hare challenged the tortoise to a race. The hare made fun of the tortoise’s apparent weakness, which was for being so slow, and boasted with pride and arrogance that he would beat the tortoise to the finish line. 

Half way into the race, the hare thought he was so far ahead of the tortoise that he stopped to eat and sleep. But he overslept, leaving time for the slow and steady tortoise to pass him and make it over the finish line well before the hare. 

The tortoise was unwavering and focused on his goal, and accepted it would be a slow and steady journey, but he had faith that he would inevitably get there.

It turns out that the tortoise’s greatest weakness was also his greatest strength.

All my life I have pondered the whole tortoise and the hare fable, more often than not, seeing myself as the hare. I have had a tendency to dart here and dart there and move on quickly when things bored me.

However, over the past couple of years I’ve done a back flip on this and it hasn’t been an easy transition. It pained me to see how much time I wasted and how many things I didn’t end up completing because of this hare-like practice.

Always the great starter, but not always the great finisher.

By the way, I still default to the hare and it takes some effort to swing me back to the path of the tortoise!

When we act like the hare we burn out. We also burn bridges, and that in itself can lead to disaster.

The tortoise on the other hand gets things done. She completes things then moves onto the next thing with steadiness and the confidence that all will get done in good time.

The key word here is consistency.

Delivering consistent positive actions over time helps us build habits that will carry us through with less stress and better results.

Consistency builds trust and reliability.

Consistency also builds resilience, and we could all do with a little more of that right now.

So be like the tortoise. Commit to small daily positive actions that build the habits that will lead you to successful outcomes.

Kerryn Vaughan is the author of ‘Magnificent Kids!’ and ‘Get Off The Bench!’, founder of One Planet Classrooms, co-founder of Girls With Hammers, and host of Get Off The Bench Podcast.

Kerryn is also a DISC ADVANCED® accredited consultant.