Two Key Lines to Follow for Personal Success

If I told you that success isn’t about luck or raw talent, but about following two simple ideas, would you believe me? Sounds wild in a world obsessed with getting rich quick, doesn’t it? But these ‘lines’—simple as they are—keep showing up in the stories of athletes, artists, business folks, and even that guy next door who somehow always lands on his feet. Let’s be real: most of us are chasing after some kind of win, whether it’s finishing school, climbing out of debt, starting a business, or just kicking bad habits. But what if success is actually less mysterious than you think? What if there were only two lines you needed to draw to keep yourself on track, no matter what the goal?

Understanding the First Line: Consistency Over Intensity

Most people come out swinging—motivated, fired up, and ready to change the world. But let’s be honest: that kind of high-voltage energy almost always burns out fast. The first line of success is consistency. Not the sexiest thing, but wow, does it get results. Imagine Olympic swimmers. Their gold medals aren’t won because they suddenly swam harder on the final race—they show up, day after day, through injuries, boredom, and setbacks. There’s a famous study published by Angela Duckworth in 2016 about grit: when you look at leaders and high achievers, sticking with it beats talent hands down almost every time. That doesn’t mean you never have a bad day. It means that no matter what, you find a way to show up and do the work, even if it’s just a small piece.

Consistency is almost annoyingly simple. If you want a six-pack, you need to work out and eat right—not just one week a year, but most weeks, for years. It’s not about those heroic workout sessions that leave you sore for days; it’s about stringing together 30-minute efforts even when you don’t feel like it. The same goes for building a business or mastering an instrument—there’s no hack. That ordinary, repeatable process is the foundation. And get this: research from University College London in 2009 showed that it takes 66 days, on average, to form a lasting habit, not just 21 as commonly thought. The message? Give yourself time, and let consistency work its slow magic.

Consistency beats intensity when you’re growing a skill, rebuilding after a failure, or leveling up your career. Think about it: would you rather invest money once a year, or a little each week? Math says slow and steady always wins the compounding race. Same idea for relationships—tiny moments of effort add up fast over months and years. You don’t have to reinvent yourself overnight. Just don’t quit showing up. So the first line you want in your life? Keep going. Show up. Every day counts, especially the boring ones.

The Second Line: Flexibility to Adapt and Learn

Picture this—you’re working hard, following the rules, but suddenly everything changes. Maybe you lose your job, or your industry gets swallowed up by AI overnight. Here’s where the second line kicks in: flexibility. It’s about rolling with the punches, learning on the fly, and not having your ego glued to just one game plan. This is harder than it sounds—most people double down on what worked before, even when it’s clearly not working anymore.

Adaptation separates those who crash from those who bend and bounce back. Think about Toronto in 2020 when the pandemic hit. Restaurants that clung to their old dine-in model folded within weeks, but the places that pivoted online, started takeout, or started delivering meal kits? Most of those survived, and some thrived. Or look at Blockbuster: they ignored the streaming wave, stuck to their store model, and ended up becoming a punchline. Netflix, meanwhile, didn’t just rent DVDs—they jumped to streaming, original content, and even games. That flexible thinking changed the game, literally.

Flexibility means listening hard, paying attention to what life’s throwing at you. There’s a story I love about an urban gardener in downtown Toronto. She started out growing food on rooftops for restaurants, but when COVID locked everything down, she used Instagram to teach people how to grow tomatoes in shoeboxes at home. Her willingness to pivot, to take new risks, kept her business alive (and probably saved a lot of sad houseplants, too). In the end, second chances go to those willing to learn something new and test it. That’s not just hearsay—Stanford’s Carol Dweck has tons of research showing people with a growth mindset, who see failure as information instead of a disaster, end up achieving more and bouncing back stronger.

So, don’t glue yourself to Plan A. Notice what’s changing, be willing to shift gears, and treat mistakes like feedback. Even if you love your routines, keep an eye out for the next thing you might need to learn.

How These Two Lines Work Together

Most people think they have to pick just one: only grit, or only flexibility. But truth is, the gold is in drawing both lines side by side. Imagine it like this: consistency is your train track. It keeps you moving forward every day, slogging through rough patches. Flexibility is the ability to take a detour when you see a better path or the bridge is out. If you only have consistency, you might stubbornly keep going in the wrong direction for years. If you’re only flexible with zero consistency, you get stuck in the dreaded loop of “new year, new me”—always switching but never finishing anything.

Successful people aren’t superhuman. They just build a strong, repeatable process but don’t get married to their first idea. Toronto Raptors’ 2019 NBA title run? Classic case of this: the team stuck to their training routines but constantly adapted game plans, player rotations, and even defense tactics based on the situation. This double mindset lets you survive any curveball.

It helps to set up your own systems—a daily writing habit, a weekly check-in with a mentor, a yearly ‘rethink everything’ ritual. The system does the heavy lifting, but you have to build in checkpoints to make sure you’re not on autopilot. Every few months, look up and ask, “Is what I’m doing still working? What needs to change?” This can be as simple as noticing you’re stalling at work and signing up for an online course, or as big as changing careers altogether.

One way to remember this? Make consistency your default—just do the same small effort every day. And then, make flexibility your backup plan—be ready to update your approach whenever facts change. That combo is how you keep the train rolling, but never get stuck on the wrong track.

Tips for Living Out the Two Lines of Success

Ready to actually put these lines into play? Here are a few ways to do it in real life:

• Habit stacking: Attach a new, simple habit to an old one. Want to read more books? Listen to audiobooks while walking your dog every day.
• Micro-commitments: Don’t overwhelm yourself. Instead of aiming to write a novel, start by writing 50 words every night before bed.
• Quarterly self-audits: Every three months, check your progress and ask what needs tweaking. Don’t be afraid to drop what’s not working.
• Feedback loops: Ask trusted friends, mentors, or even customers for feedback. Treat criticism as free information, not a personal attack.
• Plan for the ‘what ifs’: Make backup plans and have ‘response recipes’ ready for big life curveballs.

One cool hack: keep a ‘pivot notebook’. Every time you run into a wall, jot down what went wrong, ideas for next steps, and what you learned. This builds your flexibility muscles like nothing else.

Last thing: celebrate both lines. Celebrate showing up, even on days you feel lousy. Celebrate changing course when things go sideways. Share those wins with friends. The world is packed with stories of late bloomers and underdogs who stuck with their plan, then pivoted when life demanded it. That’s all success really is—writing your story, one repeatable day and one smart pivot at a time.