Do not aspire to be consistent. Aspire to be good.

Most people strive to be consistent and admire those who are.

We associate consistency with rationality, honesty, stability. See inconsistency as confusion, malice, even mental illness.

But is it a good trait to aspire to?

The dangers of being consistent

Consistency is only good if one is consistently doing the right thing. But the very pursuit of consistency makes this less likely.

You may consistently do wrong

To value consistency above all, is to claim you have a perfect understanding of the world, of every issue, and only need to stop yourself from steering off your perfect path.

“Consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago.”
― Bernard Berenson

This is of course unlikely. If you take the time to honestly reflect on the past year, or decade of your life, you’ll surely find at least some changes in your thinking, and your values.

Your brain will use it as an excuse

Your aspiration to be consistent makes it easier to justify wrongdoing, rather than explore alternatives.

If you always order an iced americano, you’ll never know whether you prefer cold brew.

Your reputation may even prevent you from trying something new when you really want to. Just imagine the face on your barista when she hears you order decaf for the first time!

“People who are right a lot of the time, are people who often change their mind. Consistency of thought is not a particularly positive trait.”
― Jeff Bezos

Whenever you do something that doesn’t feel quite right, the lazy part of your brain can just fall back on consistency to justify your actions.

That way, you don’t have to make the effort and change, or even pause to think about your behaviour. But you also become blind to better ideas and values, because consistency prevents them from ever entering your life.

You’ll struggle to stay within your chosen boundaries

Strict frameworks may lead to better results from time to time, but they break down in the long term.

Embracing flexiblity, exceptions to the rule, will give you strength to stay within your chosen boundaries.

“The branch of the tree grows because it is flexible.”
— Mitsuo Aida

It will also make your decisions more accessible to observers, and who knows, maybe even convert them to your ways!

For example, the vegan movement found that people are more likely to give a plant-based diet a try if they saw their vegan friends make exceptions under some circumstances, such as out of politeness, when invited for a dinner.

Consistency and politics

Consistency is the most common currency of political debate. But what is it worth, really?

People expect politicians to be consistent

Across the political spectrum, media anchors are on the lookout flip floppers, latching onto the smallest discrepancies in governmental statements, in the positions officials take throughout their term.

But what we should want politicians to do is not to be consistent, but to do the right thing. If that right thing changes with new circumstances, new information, should we not expect politicians to change their mind?

As Winston Churchill, who has switched political parties not once but twice, remarked:

“It is better to be both right and consistent. But if you have to choose — you must choose to be right.”

This problem is especially apparent during presidential elections. How can we reasonably expect candidates to stick to all their campaign promises, made before they got access to classified information?

People believe it’s good for them to be consistent

People consistently vote for the same party, label themselves with a particular affiliation, and stick to the same opinions & values no matter how wrong these might be.

They use the same label, even if the movement it describes has changed beyond recognition.

Sooner or later, politics become part of people’s identity, and people can never have a fruitful argument about something that’s part of their identity.

Why do we strive to be consistent?

In The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith observed:

“The opinion which we entertain of our own character depends entirely on our judgments concerning our past conduct. It is so disagreeable to think ill of ourselves, that we often purposely turn away our view from those circumstances which might render that judgment unfavorable.”

We are so obsessed with maintaining a positive image, both internally and externally, that we are biased to stay consistent with our former ways in spite of new circumstances, and against our best interests.

To change would be to judge yourself, to dirty your image… even if it is an image from your distant past.

The other reason people pursue and value consistency is because it’s easy. It allows you to live your life on auto-pilot.

You don’t need to think, try hard to do better… just do the same. You don’t need to try and understand others, their opinions, why and how they’ve changed over time… you just need to track their statements and actions.

Humans are social animals — we love to judge and to be judged. Even if we don’t have the time, skills, information necessary to pass the correct judgement.

This is why consistency became so valued in society. It is a way to pass judgement, and track your own performance, with minimal effort beyond occasional self-control.

Consistency as a tool, not an end

Consistency may not be a good trait to aspire to, but it is undoubtedly an invaluable tool.

Consistency is paramount in learning and self-improvement. Learning consistently for just 10 minutes a day, rather than binging for hours every fortnight, will reduce the chance that you’ll give up, and make you remember information better.

In some situations, it can also be used to manipulate and decieve. Poker players and war generals alike have long used apparent consistency in their action to mislead their opponent, only to break the pattern when they least expect it.

But remember, the value is never in the consistency itself.

If you consistently keep your word, the value is in the virtuous decision to deliver on your promise, on each one occasion. The value is also in the reputation of trustworthiness you earn as a result. It is not, however, in the consistency itself.

Do not aspire to be consistent. Aspire to be good.