The 5 Levels of Commitment
Written by Michael Weaver | Follow me on Twitter | Free updates via Email.
In life we are committed to what is important to us. We also strive to be committed to things in our lives that we want to change in some way. Your top committments might relate to your job, your family, and reaching personal goals. Weight, income, diet, etc. Right about now, midway through January, millions of people have already lost sight of a once promising New Year’s revolution. Why do so many lose focus so easily? Why can’t I just stick to what I set out to do? Then you wind up asking yourself – what in the world is wrong with me?
Off topic but relative to what I’m about to discuss, my professional life takes me through many goal striving, committment related philosophies and methodolies. Moving on, if you are wavering on one of your goals, ask yourself how committed you really are. Let’s take a look at five levels of committent.
- Don’t Care - this is the lowest level. “I don’t care” usually doesn’t even exist. Let me explain. You ask your significant other where he or she would like to go out to dinner. You get an “I don’t care”. Pull into McDonald’s and you will see someone that cares about about where they are eating their dinner!
- Hoping, Wishing, and Praying - “I’m really hoping that I hit my goals this month”, or “I wish I could just get this debt taken care of.” Hoping, wishing and praying isn’t going to get you very far. By using this type of language, you are telling yourself that there’s not much of a chance something is actually going to happen. So if you are just hoping and wishing – good luck!
- Trying – If you are here, you are better off than the first two, but you still aren’t getting anywhere. So much of what we accomplish relates to how we think. Let’s say I have a goal of working out and being a healthier person. Today, according to my goal, I need to work out. If I just say, “I’m going to try and workout today” – or, alternatively, I definitively say, “I am working out today at 6pm on my way home from work, I’m going to pack my gym bag and make it happen”. More often then not, if you are constantly in a trying mode, you are expending more effort than if you would actually just do it!
- Committed, unless… – If you are here, you are close. You are firm with your committment and usually stay the course. However, you will let certain things get in the way of this committment should they arise and conflict. What can happen if you are “committed, unless…”, is a loss of momentum. Maintaining momentum when tending to a committment is critical. This is good, but you can do better.
- Committed, whatever it takes – You are committed, whatever it takes. You do whatever you can possibly do to withhold this committment. You schedule around it, you alter your identity, you do whatever you have to do to ensure that you reach your goal. When you are in this state, you can make anything happen. This is where you learn because you are creating new experiences for yourself.
Fully committing to something isn’t always easy. It’s worth it, but not easy. It feels good to be committed, and do whatever it takes to honor that committment. You know it is important to you, because you thought of it!
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Image by wolfgangstaudt.
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What up!
Really nice post and it is true – trying is acceptable to a lot of people when they should just quit trying and DO. Take action. Nice post man!
Some really good thoughts here and a great reminder that outcomes require a commitment to action. “Committed, unless” is my favorite part. “Committed unless,” contains a built-in excuse and is really no commitment at all as you implied.
One thought I had while reading this post: I would be inclined to qualify the role of prayer in stage #2. There are different types of prayers. One that says, “God, I want you to do this for me.” tends to be shallow, self-serving, and little more than a wish. Treating God like a vending machine is unlikely to bear fruit. On the other hand, a prayer devoted to seeking God’s council and asking for the necessary “tools” to achieve something consistent with His purpose is the act of a wise and faithful person. As Jim Rohn explained, “Don’t pray for fewer problems, pray for more strength.” I think this type of prayer belongs with #5.
Thanks for your thoughts and keep up the good work. I look forward to more inspiration right here.
Cheers!
– CC
Clancy,
Great thoughts all around and I definitely agree! You’re right relative to the built-in excuse – it happens all to often and action is non-existent.
Thanks again for sharing Clancy!
Mike