The seventy-year-old swimming laps next to you at 6 a.m. is a preview of what consistency looks like. Say good morning.

Consistency looks like nothing much on any given morning. It looks like one more ordinary swim. What you are seeing in the next lane is decades of unremarkable mornings added together, which is the only route anybody has ever found. Nobody reaches that age in the water on a burst of effort; they get there by keeping a habit that was mostly dull.

If you share a pool, a gym or a track with somebody much older than you, say good morning this week. Ask how long they have been coming. The answer is usually a plan you could copy.