What is consistency?

I have learned many lessons throughout my life and the one lesson that I have seen pay off over and over is the lesson of consistency. Too often people start a task quickly expending a lot of time and effort. When they don't see the results that they had hoped for they get discouraged and quit.
I have learned time and time again that consistency is key. It doesn't matter how fast you start but how long that you persevere. Think of the story of the tortoise and the hare. They took off. The hare quickly built a large seemingly insurmountable lead. The tortoise was much slower than the hare, but he was consistent. As you remember, the hare became complacent and eventually the tortoise passed the hare with slow, consistent steps.