Commitment

Do you want to have a happy relationship? Do you want a successful career? Do you want to live a fulfilled life with no regret?

If your answer is yes, I have the next question for you: Can you commit yourself to your relationship, career and all the goals you want to achieve?

Last year my former boss retired, seven years before he would receive the government superannuation. On his farewell speech, he said: “I’ve always promised myself to retire early. Now the time has come.” Of course, you don’t just retire early; you must prepare yourself financially long before this day arrives. Once a promise had been made, my boss was committed to it. He made his promise come true.

My husband had wanted to change his career before he reaches forty. This year, at the age of thirty nine, he finally delivered his promise. Again it didn’t just happen. To be able to change his career, he devoted five years in creating a new career path for himself.

I admire such people like my former boss and my husband for their commitment and dedication to life. Once they have a goal, they stick to it and nothing can distract them from their commitment.

Commitment may sound like a big word. To some people, it is frightening. Why? Because they relate commitment to lack of freedom, choices and enjoyment in life.

This is far from the truth. As a matter of fact, if you want to have a successful relationship, career, or other pursuits in life, commitment is the only way to achieve them. In commitment lies true liberation as you turn your visions into reality thus enjoy the fruits of it.

Commitment is not a big word. Commitment is nothing more than a daily action. Without the ability to commit to small things, it is impossible to be able to commit to big things. I started an evening class six weeks ago. Over the six weeks the number of attendees kept dropping until last night there were only three attendees. This class is not an easy one where you go and listen to lectures. This class requires everyone to prepare a speech every week at their spare time and then to delivery it during the next class. It’s hard. But it’s how we learn and improve. From the class, I can see the fact that when the going gets tough, the majority of people just can’t remain committed. They lose heart too easily. They drop out from University or school; they divorce too quickly when their fantasies can’t be met; they hop from one job to another yet always remain unsatisfied… you wonder why.

While success sounds good, smells nice and feels wonderful, it has a price to pay. This price, is the level of our commitment. Our commitment is the money required up front before we get our goods delivered. Needless to say, the higher the level of success we pursue, the greater the price.

Take a look at your life aspects: health, family, finance, career… and ask yourself: how much commitment are you willing to give to yourself to get you to the next level?