Today Matters, Decision #6: COMMITMENT

6. Decision #6: COMMITMENT: “Today’s commitment gives me tenacity”
Make and keep proper commitments daily.

What is your purpose? Your destiny? Will you fulfill it? It takes tenacity and that takes commitment.

Your commitment will be tested every day. It is not an event but a daily process.
Failure is the greatest challenge to commitment. You have to be able to pick yourself up and make it through the failures.
You have to be able to stand alone. People will distract you, challenge you, get you to compromise your values.
You have to be able to face deep disappointment. How you react to disappointment is important. Harry Callas introduced Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Gary Maddux by saying, “Gary has turned his life around. He used to be depressed and miserable. Now his is miserable and depressed.”

“If something is worth doing I will commit myself to carrying it through.”

Embrace commitment wholeheartedly:
1. Count the cost. [Churchill: “…this was their finest hour.”]
Naïve commitments are difficult to stand by, so know exactly what you’re getting into before making a commitment.
2. Pay the price.
3. Always strive for excellence. Be a great craftsman. Do your best in everything in every way.
4. Live out this discipline; renew your commitment each day by reminding yourself of all the benefits you will receive from keeping the commitment. Make a card to carry around with you.

Practical steps
1. Expect commitment to be a struggle. Look at famous men and women who sacrificed to keep their commitments.
2. Focus on choices not conditions. Focus on the internal not the external. Conditions are transitory and focusing on them will produce a wavering commitment while internal values are constant and will produce tenacity and steadiness.
Crossroad: a decision must be made, it will cost you something, it will affect others.
3. Do what is right even when you don’t feel like it. All great athletes understand this truth. “I have prepared, I will follow the rules, I will not quit.” Commitment touches every area of life.