Speaker 1: 0:06

there you are all right. Now it's finish strong friday, my friends and you're listening to the sweet spot. I'm derek sweet. I'm your board certified psychiatrist. I handle all of the high performance work for many, many elite athletes and performers, and more more than that. I enjoy sitting and speaking with individuals like yourself, anybody who is interested in getting to the next level in their life. We're all on a journey, and this journey is about being our best selves, and when we can have these powerful conversations and exchanges that we're having this week, oh man, anything is possible. I truly believe that anything is possible when you have the right conversation with the right person at the right time and in the right way, and that's why we're here in Finish Strong Friday, as we have been doing all week.

Speaker 1: 1:02

We've been tackling this whole idea of the secret sauce Wow and we've been looking at ingredients all week long. It's been pretty amazing. We've been cooking with purpose, breaking down the sauce that makes your life distinct, potent and powerful. In a world full of loud starts and quiet finishes, we need to be reminded of something Greatness isn't just about how you show up. It's about how you stay consistent. So here on Finish Strong Friday, we are going to look at the fifth ingredient in our secret sauce, and you know what that is it's consistency. I'm calling it the clutch gene, consistency. But before I do that, let me remind you that we've touched on some other important ingredients in the sauce, and if you haven't heard the other sweet spots this week, you may want to go back and listen to Making Moves Monday, where we talked about the importance, the deep, deep importance, of adding this very, very secret ingredient into your making your first move, and that is you can't cook if you're afraid of fire. You can't cook if you're scared. All right. So courage had to be our very first ingredient. And then we talked about Take Action Tuesday, the idea that, look, you've got to align your values with your action. Okay, you really do so. That's another one. And then, wednesday and Thursday, we added other ingredients. So I don't want to slow us down, but you've got to go back and listen, because all these ingredients come together to make the final secret sauce.

Speaker 1: 3:08

Today, finish Strong. Friday, we're talking about the fifth ingredient, which is consistency, the clutch gene. Now, consistency doesn't shout, it doesn't trend like something on the internet, but it builds. It does build, it builds an invisible scaffolding of what I call excellence. You don't rise when it's easy, my friend. You rise when it's routine, and that's so boring to say. It's the routines that really get us to the next level of our greatness and that's what we run away from. We always want it to be exciting, we always want the next good thing, the next best thing, but it's the boring routine that actually matters.

Speaker 1: 3:58

Consistency matters and it matters scientifically as well. Neuroscience shows us that repetition strengthens the neural pathways in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the PFC. The prefrontal cortex, the brain's major decision-making CEO section, is strengthened when we are disciplined and when we are consistent. The more consistently you do something, boy. This PFC, this prefrontal cortex, which is the seat of discipline, planning and follow-through, gets strengthened. You are literally, literally strengthening your brain when you are consistent.

Speaker 1: 4:38

Every time you repeat a focused behavior, you reduce cognitive load, you increase efficiency and you free your brain to operate at a higher level. Let that sink in, breathe on that. Just getting up, following your routine and doing it the same way every day, practicing something, boy, it's called long-term potentiation and that's how you become a master, that's how mastery is formed, and it's all happening in your brain. And why does this matter, because consistency gives your brain your most powerful organ system, your brain. It gets a rhythm and then your rhythm becomes your resilience, your ability to handle pressure, your ability to bounce back, your ability to perform when all the stress is coming at you from every angle. This boring routine that you do every day, this consistency is how you get it done and you don't veer off from it.

Speaker 1: 5:48

You don't compromise, as Kobe Bryant said, you don't negotiate with yourself. I don't negotiate with me. Kobe said it's raining outside. I'm not going to negotiate with me, I'm still going out to get my work done. Dr Dre put it this way Never let me slip, because if I slip, then I'm slipping. You know these artists, man, they just have a way of saying it right Never let me slip, because if I slip, then I'm slipping, and you don't want to be slip sliding all the way around. Right, that's a problem. This drain line may sound simple, but it's the whole mindset Slip once life happens, but stay slipping. That's how momentum dies.

Speaker 1: 6:35

Consistency is the grip that keeps your greatness grounded and it keeps you from getting into too many slips. Don't sleep on your consistency. Dwayne the Rock Johnson put it this way success isn't always about greatness. It's about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Hard work leads to success. Greatness will come. The Rock isn't just talking muscle, he's talking mental reps. The discipline to show up builds the platform for every breakthrough you're seeking.

Speaker 1: 7:12

You want to be better at something. Be consistent at it. Be consistent in the practice. Consistent at it. Be consistent in the practice Even when you're not seeing results right away. Be consistent. Don't speak out of both sides of your mouth. Don't negotiate with yourself. Don't flip-flop on things. Be a beast about how consistent you're going to be, about what you're going to do. You want to be a better musician. You practice the piano. You want to be a better pilot? You get more flight practices in. You want to be a better singer? Get the vocal lessons. You want to be better at gardening? Go out and do it every single day.

Speaker 1: 7:54

And the scriptures and the ancient wisdom they support this kind of thinking Not being inconsistent, not being two-faced about things. It says in Numbers God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? Oh yeah, that's God. God is complete integrity. God is unchanging. That's our model. God models ultimate consistency. His words align with his actions always. God is always aligned with his actions. God is always well courageous and God is always resilient. And you know what. God is a finisher. And if you want to lead and you want to influence, you want to transform. And I'm not talking about leading a nation, of course you can do that if you want to. I'm talking about just in your family. If you want to have influence, you want to transform things, you must build the same alignment God has.

Speaker 1: 9:08

You've got to say what you mean and mean what you say. Say it, mean it, do it and then repeat it. Say it, mean it, do it and repeat it. Very simple Look at nature, right.

Speaker 1: 9:24

Nature is really a great teacher. The tides they don't just crash once and then never crash again. You can stand at that ocean. You will see these tides come and go. You will see these waves rise and fall. The seasons don't just come around once, they're always coming around. It's not like you miss winter or spring never comes and sunsets never forget to happen. They always happen.

Speaker 1: 9:56

Nature is about consistency. Nature thrives on rhythm. Nature is flexing when it does this consistency thing, just like you need to flex with your consistency. All right, consistency isn't grind, it's a kind of harmony in motion when you're doing it right. So yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Listen. We talked about the juice versus the sauce and we said that the juice is kind of temporary. It's a flash. It's quick, but the flash fades. It's the follow through that lasts. Hype, it can start the race, but I guarantee you it's the consistency that's going to win the marathon. And remember, what you repeat is what you become.

Speaker 1: 10:50

Repetition isn't boring, it's brain sculpting. Like I told you, it's really training your brain to be really able to handle the rigors and the pressures when things change and the situation gets a little difficult. Because you've practiced and you've worked so hard, you're able to overcome many things. So repetition is not boring, it's brain sculpting. Discipline is drip Drip. It's slow, drip greatness. Don't microwave what needs to be marinated in your life. You can't microwave your way to greatness. It's a marination. You've got to take your time and work at it to really get anything that's worthwhile. It's just the way it is. So you have a gift and you want to be great. Consistency is how your gift becomes your greatness. Showing up small ultimately becomes standing tall. It's hard for people to see that, but it's those little things, those atomic habits, those little atomic habits you have.

Speaker 1: 12:05

Yeah, consistency is the grind, the sauce, it's the touch. Everybody's got the recipe, but it's the sauce that makes it so rare. Everybody can cook, but not everybody's got the sauce. Because you know what? They're not consistent. They don't want to do the consistent thing. They don't want to take that one kick and practice it 10,000 times. What they want to do is do 10,000 kicks once, okay, and feel good. That's the way our society is set up, so that you can scroll and go from thing to thing to thing and just keep moving and not be consistent. So that, my friend, is consistency your fifth ingredient in your secret sauce.

Speaker 1: 12:55

Think of a goal you've been chasing. What's one small thing you can do today to finish strong? Don't announce it, don't tell anybody about it, just do it. Do it in silence, with grit and grace. Make a promise to yourself Get it done, get it done, get it done. Consistency is your clutch gene, the one that shows up when the pressure is high, the one that doesn't quit, the one that makes your sauce stick. So finish strong today, my friend, not for applause, but because your legacy deserves your full follow through. You can do this. You got this. I believe in you. I know what you're about and you've got this. This is the sweet spot. Tomorrow, you'll be talking to me about self-care. Saturday, we'll be conversing about that final ingredient, or, next to final ingredient, energy. It's going to be about how you don't have to burn yourself out In order to feel like you're fulfilled. We'll talk more about that tomorrow.

Speaker 1: 14:03

If you like what you're hearing here and you want to share it, please Do not hesitate To subscribe and Let somebody else in. And you want to share it? Please do not hesitate to subscribe and let somebody else in. Let somebody else in on this secret sauce that we're making. I'm Dr Derek Sweet. Thank you so much for listening. I really enjoyed talking to you about the secret sauce today. Finish strong, my friends.