Constant Consistency – Your Weekly Inspirational Quote

We often complain about personalities or principles that we find offensive in others, but when you take a closer look, it’s really the lack of consistency that gets you all worked up.

Many people are worked up about BP and the mess they caused in the Gulf (no, I’m not letting this go yet). But when it comes down to it, you can’t really fault the corporate leaders on their calloused and often oblivious response, because it’s part of the character they’ve consistently displayed.

Case in point: just this week, OSHA finally got around to penalizing BP for a refinery explosion in 2005 that killed 15 people and injured over 100 more. The final tally was over $50 million dollars and BP has pledged to allocate $500 million more to increase the safety of current workers.

Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis said “The size of the penalty rightly reflects BP’s disregard for workplace safety and shows that we will enforce the law so workers can return home safe at the end of their day.”

A chilling lack of concern for worker or environmental safety is BP’s m.o., and found throughout the fossil fuel industry, regardless of brand name.

This got me thinking about how important it is to pursue consistency in all that we do. Even if you’re a “screw-up” like Big Oil, it at least makes it easier to get out of the way in time. Here are some quotes to think about while considering what consistency you’re demonstrating to the world.

“In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.” -Anthony Robbins

“Success is more a function of consistent common sense than it is of genius.” -An Wang

“You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.” -James D. Miles

“The true test of character is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we don’t know what to do.” -John W. Holt