Make a Commitment to Commit

A personal next starts with your personal commitment.

Coaching Tip #8

Commitment never starts with being ‘all in’; it starts with exploration. In a rush to achieve a next set of benchmarks, you may miss opportunities. Remember what you do not know, you do not know. I challenge you to pause and explore. Eventually you will move back to that familiar place of engage and endure.

Explore – This requires courage. When you have been great at something specific, people around you often expect you to be great at everything. You know, however, that it can take years to be great at anything. As you explore possibilities for your own personal next, remind yourself that you are in an exploration phase – not an expectation phase. Commit to stepping outside your comfort zone and start exploring. These first steps can be as precise or as expansive – as concentrated or loose – as you choose to make them.

Engage – This is your pledge. You have set a new goal and decided to engage. Now comes the personal responsibility. Commit to a plan and be open to learning. At this engagement stage it is often best to start small. Keep your goals challenging – after all, you’ve been challenging yourself your whole life. And appreciate that each step on this new path is a step forward (even if it sometimes feel like you’re going sideways!).

Endure – This necessitates perseverance. Sometimes the best laid plans do not go according to schedule. A strategy I have used with some of my clients is to get them to make a “daily commitment.” When things seem like they are falling off the rails, try writing down each morning what you will commit to for that day. And I do suggest you write it down, rather than type it or text it to yourself – there is sometimes a bit of magic in making that simple and direct statement on paper (which you can then stick in your pocket, briefcase, or backpack). Daily commitments keep you focused on what you can control. They remind you of your “why,” and they help keep you in the game.