One of the advantages of Day Light Savings is that it is a lot darker at 5am now. I had no idea that The 365 Commitment would lead me toward becoming a jogger, but here I am every morning at 5am I am jogging around my neighborhood. When the sun was up earlier I was worried that people would see me and judge just how ridiculous I looked. Gasping for air, slowly plodding down the street one step at a time. Now that it is darker, I am not as embarrassed. However this has a major drawback.
The challenge is that when I knew people were watching, I stood a little straighter, lengthened my stride a little longer, and went a little faster. Now that I am under the cover of darkness running, I am less likely to through up the facade and push myself harder. You can call me shallow – but you would be lying to yourself if you thought that peer review, or what other people think of you is not a powerful motivator. I suppose the concept that I have heard in the past is true – what you do when no one is looking is your true self. I guess I am a slow jogger when no one is looking!
This lead me to the following thoughts. When you let people know what you are trying to accomplish, two things happen. The first is that they are likely to help you or at least not get in your way. Second is that your fear of disappointing them will cause you to be even more motivated. The more people that know the less likely you will fail, or perhaps when you do fail it will not be as bad as it normally would have been. So if you are really serious about keeping The 365 Commitment (or any other commitment) then let people know!
This blog has served that purpose for me. I now look forward to spilling my guts every morning in total self disclosure! If any of you actually read this is irrelevant – the fact is that I think you do and because of that I am extra motivated to get up every morning and keep The 365 Commitment.
You too can be a contributor to this blog! If anyone wants to post a blog post to The 365 Commitment and share with the world (all 40 of us that even know about this) then just email me and let me know. I will set you up with a contributor account!
Guy Reams (65)
365 Member
Ride at Dawn
