Building power of commitment
How many of you have done any and many of the following
1.New Year Resolutions
2.Thought about making yourself self-disciplined
3.Tried To lose weight
4.Started exercising with gusto
5.Tried to give up smoking
6.To take up a new course
7.Start saving
8.Thought about apologizing or too set right the mistakes you made in your relationships
9.You can list your pet-peeves This list can go on and on
Chances are each one of us would have tried few of these with great energy and enthusiasm at the start – and that too many times in life.
How many of you just gave up and were back to earlier state and actually felt comfortable for coming back to your comfort zone.
Very few of us manage to persist and continue for long run, in any of our above ventures.
Why because Resolutions, Desires, wants, wish, likes, interest & promises are powerless only because they work on willpower*. Please read my blog "If willpower does not work, what to do".
Willpower is like a 1st gear, it would give you the initial momentum], but later you must shift to cruising gears [you cannot drive the car in 1st gear for long distance].
Same is life, if you use willpower too often, you would get burned out.
Commitment is your internal self-inspiration, for anything, where you go with "whatever it takes" mindset.
Commitment is not a formula one race, it is about finishing marathon.
Commitment is what makes you persist and sustain.
Your commitment is what differentiates a champion/a leader/ a winner/ an achiever from the masses.
Commitment is based on your strong passionate intent or your propelling dreams and it is not about starting, it about finishing your vital tasks/objectives/goals/responsibilities
You can be committed for
1.A worthwhile cause
2.Your values
3.Towards People connected with you
4.Your career/Work/profession
5.Your relationships
6.Organization, Society, Nation
7.Humanity as a whole
8.Yourself, Your Dreams, Your passions
9.Or to anything that you must do, have or be
Now ask yourself do you
1.Take up projects [any personal, professional, business, family etc], then lose the steam
2.Do you try to put-off important tasks, till they cannot be postponed any more
3.Have you developed a mental self-talk, which tell you "so what, it is my life" or "Ok, Ok I will do it later"
4.Do you find your family members/bosses do not have enough faith in your promises
5.Do you secretly regret, few instances, in which if feel, if only you could have taken a particular action on time
6.Do you have many habits that you want get rid of, plans to do many things etc
7.Do you constantly find and give excuses for not finishing
8.Do you easily blame things, people, circumstances, when things go wrong
9.Do you feel guilty often related to point 5 on regret
If more than 1 yes, you may have a commitment issue.
Commitment is your strong intent, your achievement-orientation combined with disciplined actions till finish line.
So how do we develop the power of commitment
[In addition to this article please also read my blog "how to be consistent" and "developing resilience". I would be writing about how to be "self-disciplined" later]
1.Identify your dreams, goals objectives
2.Announce them in public – you can relate a great example of the role of announcing to public to build commitment in printing and distributing marriage cards[although exceptions are there, most of the marriages take place after the card is printed]
3.Take responsibility for the results in your life
4.Be accountable for all that you do or don't do
5.Take full ownership of the consequences of your actions
6.Take risk and ask for challenging tasks
7.Identify To Whom and What Are You want to be Committed for
8.Identify your most compelling whys
9.Even if there are compelling reasons to give up, create environment to come back on the track by combination of the following
I.Break the task in smallest independent units
II.Schedule them as per the toughness of task as per your peak energy time to low energy time
III.Even if some emergency derails you, keep a reminder to come back to this goal and unfinished tasks
IV.Take break to recharge your energy
V.Find ways to get pleasure out of whatever you are doing
VI.Make it fun to do, to talk about and to learn from
VII.To get back into your right mood, do something of your hobby for some time
VIII.If possible involve a buddy or support group
IX.Enroll a mentor
X.Learn about the job/task through various sources
XI.Create a plan of action
XII.Be flexible and improvise your methods, process and plans as long as it is taking you forward towards your goals
XIII.Ensure that you do same thing, the same way at the same time[especially if you are trying to develop a new habit or it is an important but uninteresting task
XIV.Track and monitor your progress and reward yourself for all milestones
XV.Some of the task you need to do it alone, without depending on anyone
XVI.Understand that many times you won't feel like doing anything, then stop and do nothing, but it is alright in the time of emergency and once in a blue moon
XVII.Focus on continuous improvement but Do not try to be perfectionist
XVIII.Focus on excellence, make yourself relish the moment when you have done something at par excellence, reward yourself
XIX.Beat thought "I am not ready yet" or "I will wait as I don't have enough information" or that "I do not fully well how to do it"With "Let me learn while I do the job/take actions"
XX.Identify the most important and essential task and focus on those, ignore the ones those are not related
XXI.Evaluate Your Commitments for the time limitations and create plan to work around that. Understand that There is a difference between making excuses for not honoring a commitment you've made and knowing when something just isn't working, despite your best efforts
XXII.Keep all your plans and action steps simple
XXIII.Identify all the occasions you stayed on track, despite challenges. Use these moments to motivate and to install confidence in yourself to be committed
XXIV. Don't try to change everything at once. Pick one small new habit and stick with it
XXV.Always Aim to create a positive new habit, not just a one time result
XXVI. Learn to Enjoy your feeling and being Uncomfortable
XXVII.When you slip, get back on track quickly. Remember, Habits in motion tend to stay in motion
XXVIII.Maintain your health
Developing organizational commitment
First Committing to Yourself by asking
1.Are you willing to invest of your time and energy to get better at the challenging role of leadership
2.Are you willing to have the hard conversations
3.Are you willing to let go of your ego enough to allow others to shine and succeed
4.Are you willing to be the role model for all your people
5.Are you going to be committed your commitments
6.Understand that Leadership is a decision, an obligation and it is hard work
Then Do the following
I.Welcome new people into your organization in impressive manner
II.Let them understand what you and your organization stands for.
III.Be transparent about your organization's mission, principles, core values
IV.Give them crystal clear performance indicators
V.Show them the rewards of performance and career path
VI.Model commitment yourself
VII.Pick out the right level of challenge for people
VIII. Build an organizational culture in which staff, volunteers, and members appreciate and respect each other
IX.Teach people in your organization to notice what is going well, rather than just noticing what needs to be improved
X.Listen, listen, and listen
XI.Support people's leadership
XII.Involve others
XIII.Allow them to make mistakes
XIV.Recognize the initiates and recognize and reward them
XV.Make your organization a learning organization