COMMITMENT OR CIRCUMSTANCES

January always seems to dawn with such bright promise. We're fresh with enthusiasm for achieving new dreams. We see endless possibilities on the horizon. Many of us set goals to be healthier, wealthier, thinner, smarter, more successful or better in some other way. And then...life happens. We quickly find ourselves carried away on the wave of circumstances that seem bent on keeping us right where we are. But it doesn't have to be that way. Really, you can make 2007 your best year yet by deciding today that when push comes to shove, you'll choose commitment over circumstances.

Here are some examples you'll perhaps relate to. Over the years I've worked with many coaching clients who have had a goal of getting "healthier." We've worked to define exactly what "healthier" looks like, to make it measureable, concrete. Yet I can probably count on one hand the number who have followed through on that commitment and taken the consistent steps to live up to their promise to themselves. What is the missing ingredient? I believe it's commitment, followed by consistent action.

You say you want to spend more time with your family, or seeing friends. Yet instead of following through on those plans, ratcheting your commitment up to a 9 or 10, you allow the pull of circumstances to drag you back into the same old routines...too much time in mindless activities, watching TV, surfing the web or working too many hours.

I recently completed what for me was a huge professional accomplishment, the successful completion of the requirements to become a Professional Certified Coach in the eyes of the International Coach Federation. Trust me, I have little patience for "academic hoop-jumping" (which it turns out this was NOT); still it took everything I had to compile and submit the necessary documentation and complete numerous other hurdles to step over the finish line. It required all the commitment I could muster. And guess what, it was worth it!! Not that I care much about the initials after my name, but it's who I became in the process that made it all worth it. My coaching skill level increased, my professional confidence zoomed, and most of all, my self-esteem grew by leaps and bounds as a result of sticking with the commitment rather than allowing circumstances to derail me. And by the way there were more than a few obstacles that popped up along the way!

My message to you this week is simple: Will 2007 be the year you absolutely commit to whatever you've set your mind and heart on? Or will you drop into default mode and allow circumstances to dictate the outcome of your life this year? I realize there are things that happen in every life that have the potential to throw a wrench in the works and the best laid plans. And sometimes what life throws our way is a wake-up call that demands we make another type of commitment for one reason or another. But more often than not it isn't life that gets in the way, it's us and our willingness to capitulate to the first little obstacle that comes along.

As I often share with my coaching clients, "what I want for you is to have the life you dream of having...are you willing to have that?" If the answer is "yes" then set your goals, turn up your commitment level to a 9 or 10 and then watch out. Perhaps the most powerful words ever written on the subject of commitment are these from W.H. Murray, part of a Scottish Himalayan Expedition:

The Power of Commitment

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back,
always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth,
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans:
that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings
and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.
I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:

"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."

2007 really can be your year. Go ahead, commit to it and make it happen!

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