Today the Olympic Games in Tokyo are coming to an end. I have watched some of the competitions as I always love to do. Something about watching people achieve a lifelong dream is exhilarating and motivating. The athletes have committed much of their life to a single goal. The dreamer and a believer in me are encouraged by those commitments. All people indeed have difficulties and challenges that work to hold them back, so what can we learn from the world’s best athletes?
Commitment.
Commitment is “the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause or activity.”
One of the things that we talk about in Life Coaching is goal setting and working towards what you want in life. We often have hopes and dreams, but making them happen is the actual work. Commitment to your goals makes the difference between wanting something and getting something.
Why is commitment so tough? We have good intentions, but we also have a human brain that holds us back for many reasons. The most potent reason is our self-doubt. Procrastination happens when we doubt our abilities and fear the failures that come on the path to big results. Self-doubt makes action steps challenging to take. If we do not believe in our abilities to recover from failure, we will abandon our goals.
Start with a big reward. Whether you want to start a new habit or kick an old one, you need to have a strong reason for doing it. If your end goal is weak, so will be your resolve. When your self-confidence starts to wain, you need that goal picture to focus on. If an Olympic athlete does not have a strong reason for working for years — the gold medal and the career success that comes from that —they will never have the resolve to do the hard work it takes to succeed.
Break it down into steps that feel more attainable. When we have a large dream that seems impossible, working at it in small steps is the only way to overcome your doubt. Running a marathon is best done by starting with one mile at a time. Losing weight can be achieved by changing one small habit at a time. Small steps create momentum, and momentum builds increased motivation as you see your dream taking shape.
Put the steps into your daily plan. Planning for change is the only way to stay committed to the process. If you do not add the steps into your daily routine, you will easily get distracted by life. Start by deciding on the time commitment you need to dedicate to your efforts each day. Then assign a specific time to work on them—plan for the inevitable obstacles that will come up and create a backup plan for these obstacles. For example, if you need to work out three times a week, scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, leave Saturday as your backup plan if you miss one of the other days. This way, you will plan for interruptions to your process.
Be prepared to fight with yourself for yourself. There will be a strong urge to skip steps just because you do not “feel like doing it.” Your brain will try to push you offline and take the easy way out. If you know that it is coming, you can prepare for the urges and have a plan in mind to fight those urges. Knowing that you will have to fight for your commitment and being OK with that, is essential to staying committed.
Challenge yourself to think about a change you want to make this week and start working on your commitment. You will be surprised what you can do if you commit to starting.
Dr. Julie Cappel
“Commitment is what transforms a promise into a reality.” - Abraham Lincoln
“You always have two choices: your commitment versus your fear.”- Sammy Davis Jr
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