What is emerson speaking of when he mentions consistency, and why does he berate it as "the hobgoblin of little minds"?

The best answer for this question would be:

That Emerson in the essay "Self-Reliance" truly believed in individualism. He wanted his readers to know that trusting in oneself can go a long way, than blindly following someone’s idea that you don’t actually appreciate. It is important to be misunderstood along the way, because it creates countless of opportunities.

the need to always be consistent.

He believe that A greater mind will always follow their intuition rather than listening to the opinion of the lesser intellectuals. He is saying to not be worried about being consistent with a previous idea because in the pursuit of knowledge, mistakes will keep occurring.