Thinking about commitments. I had a commitment for 240 days in a row, that recently I sort of stopped doing. I just got overwhelmed and the commitment went from something I will do everyday, to something that I would like to do everyday. The refiners fire of pushing myself everyday is really causing me to focus on the critical, and the extra thing that I had added was becoming too burdensome. However, I think this Like vs. Will concept is the important mental change that has to occur for a commitment to really be a commitment.
A commitment is a contract with yourself. You fill in this sentence – I <insert your name here> will do <insert commitment here> every day and then I will become <insert future vision of yourself here>. A commitment requires faith that your action will produce a desired result. I was never an athlete growing up. In high school I was on the debate team, mock trial, academic decathalon and any other nerd thing you can think of. I would see some of the athletic types cry, and sob after a win and then quickly thank God for their great success. I just never understood this. I kept thinking – what does God care if their team wins a banner, or a person wins the high jump?
Well, now I know. In order to have true progress as an athlete, you have to be extremely committed to your progress. There are things you will have to do or abstain from doing everyday. You will be tried and tested, but you have to have faith that what you are doing will produce a result. No wonder there is a direct tie to a belief in a higher power. An athlete is seeking for confirmation, guidance that the path that they have chosen is the path that will lead toward their future vision. So when that future vision becomes reality, of course, they are going to thank God. Not because God helped them beat the opponent, but because they just received the ultimate validation that their course of faith was correct. They are thanking God for the correctness of the journey and not necessarily the end result.
So what WILL you do to achieve your future self? Your improved self? Not what you would LIKE to do. I LIKE to do a lot of things, but I know that what I LIKE may not be what gets me to an improved state. What I WILL do is what is going to get me there. Here is a fun thought. The greater the vision, the loftier the heights in which you want to reach, the greater the complexity and difficulty your commitment needs to be. Your will is defined by what you are willing to do to achieve your goals, dreams.
When you decide you WILL do something, your mentality has to change. You are no longer just going to dismiss a day without doing something – you are going to get what you want done everyday without fail. You WILL is not optional. It is 11:35p at night in a hotel room with a 5am flight to catch and you still do what you are WILLING to do. Failure is not an option – if that is really the case – then what you know you must do, is something that you will do, no matter what the circumstances.
Take it from me, your life can only hold a few of these. So make them count! What you WILL do everyday is going to require sacrifice on many levels – so do not add these types of commitments lightly. Fill out the contract with yourself and make the decision. Stop telling people, yeah, I know I need to do that one day, or I need to get back to doing that again. I know that I should be this and should be that. Stop saying that. Decide right now what you are WILLING to do to EARN your future (God willing, of course).
Guy Reams
25 Days Left to 1st Marathon
