Who do you think will become better at any given skill: someone who has a natural talent for that skill but hardly ever practices it or someone who has no natural talent for it but practices it every day? Except for a few exceedingly rare cases involving people with exceptional natural talent, the person who consistently works at a skill will eventually become better at it than the talented person who almost never works at it.
It’s better to spend a few minutes every day working on a skill than spend several hours on it every once in a while; it’s also easier to do this since consistent practice brings steady improvement, which acts as a great source of motivation to continue, and working daily on a skill rather than every so often means less time is needed to maintain it or improve it. Further, once practicing something each day becomes a habit, it requires less thought and willpower to work on it.
A different, though still important, aspect of consistency is behaving consistently in all areas of life. Now of course there will be times that behavior changes for understandable reasons (lack of sleep, sickness, emotional ups and downs, etc), but that’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about the people who act friendly some of the time but reveal their true face in other situations. These people are manipulative and adjust their behavior to the situation so they can get others to do what they want. What they should do instead is work on self-improvement so they can be the best possible versions of themselves and then act accordingly in whatever situation they find themselves. They don’t have to do exactly the same things and say exactly the same things wherever they go, but their behavior should be in line with some aspect of their best self.
Consistency is critical, whether it’s regularly practicing a skill or behaving similarly (in a good way) in every area of life. I’ve worked at both off and on over the years; my life is much better whenever I’m on the ball with them. As with everything else, I often don’t live up to my own expectations but I’m trying to be easier on myself and accept victories wherever I find them. I’ve seen progress, which is encouraging, and I’ll be satisfied as long as I keep doing my best and getting better as I go.