Adaptability is key

The biggest predictor of success isn't intelligence or talent. It's consistency. You can be the world's most talented word-smith, but you won't become a good writer unless you don't actually sit down and write. If someone else with less talent just keeps working every day, he will soon be much better than you. Your starting point matters much less than how much you're walking every day.

You decided to improve at your craft. You reserved one hour in the morning, every morning, to write. The first few days go well. You sit down and you write. You feel the resistance rising inside you, but you persist. But then, on the third day you keep waking up during the night from nightmares. The morning after, you're rolling out of your bed, groggy and late for work. What do you do now? Do you despair, telling yourself you're destined to be average, and that you didn't even really want to write anyway? Or do you just sit down for ten minutes before you go on with your day?

Consistency doesn't come from more discipline and structure and beating yourself up for failing. It comes from adapting to the situation at hand. Adaptability is key.