Author: Brandy Metz, MSN, APRN, AGNP-C

Commitment

“99% is a bitch. 100% is a breeze.”- Jack Canfield

Success is seemingly simple. All you have to do is choose a goal, and commit to make all your means ensure that end. That’s the sure-fire formula to achieving all of your dreams. Yet life makes achieving success a little more complicated than that. Distractions, and obstacles, and deterrents tend to disrupt the linear trajectory towards your goal. Difficulties arise, unforeseen delays come up, resources fall apart, opportunities fall short, and the support you need abandons you… At these times, the success of your goal becomes uncertain .. and it begins to look like failure.

“What stands in the way, becomes the way.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

These are the times that determine your level of commitment. How else would you be able to demonstrate commitment without difficulties and without obstacles? If success was certain, it wouldn’t require determination. Goals require commitment to obtain what you want, and to do what needs to be done in order to keep it. Commitment requires sacrifice, fortitude, grit, and loyal allegiance and dedication to your goal. Commitment is a vow, an obligation, and a responsibility. It’s a pledge to overcome whatever may come. To persevere through doubt, rejection, trials, and fear. Commitment is a burden you bear in order to achieve your goal. 

“He who has a strong enough why can bear almost any how.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

The risk of uncertainty is the part that tests your resolve. Nothing is guaranteed. Success is a gamble. When the stakes are high and the pressure is on….This is when your commitment is challenged. Do you double down? Or do you go home? If you want something badly enough, then you will dig deep and go all in. So ask yourself, how bad do you want to win it? How much are you willing to risk for it? How much are you willing to lose for it? And how much do you stand to gain? If it’s the right fight, and the right prize, then you will dig deep, anty up, and go all in. Don’t let the fear of losing stop you. The more you put on the line, the greater the odds of success.  Success is a more a game of choice than a game of chance.

“What is obtained too cheaply is esteemed too lightly.” ~ Thomas Paine

Your goals will cost you. Nothing worth having comes easy. The price of success is commitment. A worthy goal will demand the best of you. It will challenge you. It will change you. It will force you to work for it. It will force you to grow into it. And most of all, a worthy goal will require sacrifice. Sacrifice is the key between where you are now and where you want to be. Commitment is a choice. And you have options. You demonstrate commitment by severing all other options.

“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.” ~ Michael Porter

Old crusaders used to burn their ships when they discovered new land. They did this to ensure that when hysteria struck, or things got too tough or too hard, the crusaders had to persevere and move forward. They could not retreat backwards into the familiar. There was no other option, and no other choice, but to achieve their objective. There was no plan B. This is how they changed the world. Go all in. Burn your boats. Don’t look back. Demonstrate sheer unwavering commitment to your goals. No matter the odds. Severe all other options. When uncertainties rise, and the going gets hard, the committed stay true to their mission like there is no other choice. 

“You can only become great at something you are willing to sacrifice for.” ~ Maya Angelou

Anything worth achieving will require sacrifice. You need to remove distractions and things in your life that are contrary to your goals. Everything in your life is either an asset or a liability. It’s important to take honest inventory to determine which is which. Holding on to liabilities in your life will thwart you. They can cost you your goals. They can and will diminish you. You must be willing to choke off the things that threaten your success and be ruthless in this. 

“The person you are becoming will cost you people, relationships, spaces, and material things. Choose that person over everything.” ~ Unknown

Determine your assets and hold fast to them. Build them, nurture them, grow them. Appreciate the resources in your life that drive you, uplift you, support you, encourage you, and keep you accountable in your goals. Appreciate the things and people in your life that are invested in your success. Surround yourself with people and situations that inspire you and drive you to stay committed to your commitments. Your surroundings need to be in alignment with your goals. The people in your life need to be in alignment with your goals. Your priorities need to be in alignment with your goals. Your choices need to be in alignment with your goals. The way you spend your time needs to be in alignment with your goals. This will ensure success. 

“Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

You must be willing to invest everything into your dreams to see them to fruition. Commit to the inner and outer work required to make your goals reality. Keep your goal on the forefront of your mind, and work towards it every day. Visualize, strategize, innovate, conversate, research, invest, apply, create, learn, earn, churn, and burn for it. Exercise focus, self-discipline, and allegiance to your goal. Commit all of yourself, and all of your means to meet your one end. And don’t give up on yourself. When the going gets tough, re-aim, re-strategize, re-focus, re-apply, re-learn, recreate, and re-commit. Dig deep. Double down. Go all in. Burn your boats. Ask yourself: How badly do you want success? How far are you willing to go? What are you willing to sacrifice for it? What are you willing to risk for it? And most importantly: How much are you committed?