“Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality” — Abraham Lincoln
There is a ton of advice out there on how to achieve success, but little is said about the great impact commitment will make on your life. It’s the number one thing you must get down before doing anything else, without commitment your odds on success will decrease drastically.
Being passionate isn’t enough
Bill Gates has a great passion for computers and software. Michael Jordan is extremely passionate about basketball. Stephen King’s passion is writing.
But did these guys achieve great success with nothing else than passion? Being successful takes hard work, discipline, passion AND most importantly, commitment. You may truly love what you do but there will be a time when you’ll have to work on other tasks which you hate.
And that’s where most people give up. They feel like they’ve lost passion for what they’re doing and decide to quit. The passion’s probably still there, they just can’t seem to get around the tasks that are unpleasant but indispensable to the success of their business or career.
Truly committing to something means going all the way and doing whatever it takes. You may be working as a bartender and hate your job but if you’re one hundred percent committed to saving up enough money in order to open your own business, you will get there in spite of the long and unpleasant hours.
Being passionate about what you do is great and I highly recommend not doing anything else. In order to greatly improve your chances on success however, you should create a plan, envision your goal and commit to it no matter what.
Experts are born from commitment
I’m knowledgeable in computer programming, sales, graphic designing, photography and psychology. The problem is that I didn’t get past the “amateur level” in any of these. Why? Because of my lack of commitment. Whenever I had to work on stuff I disliked, I discovered something new that I was interested in and started all over again.
Had I stuck to computer programming from the very beginning I would probably be able to make a pretty decent living at it. Finally I made a stop at freelance writing. Because there’s nothing about it that I don’t like and nothing else interests me? Hell no. I hate it when I have to get an article or blog post written but I just stare at a blank screen and the words won’t come to my mind.
Every time I feel overwhelmed or start doubting myself, I remember that I made a commitment and that the only way to get to the top is by sticking to it. The best part is that after a while it doesn’t only start to pay off financial-wise, it’s a huge confidence boost too. I’m no expert yet but month after month I see improvement in my writing and there’s no stopping in sight.
Commitment is the one and only thing that will make you an expert over time. It’s pretty simple: The more you do something, the better you get at it.
Every successful person committed to something
Try and think of one successful person who didn’t commit to something. It’s practically impossible.
Commitment is one of the things all successful people have in common, no matter if you’re talking about Michael Phelps, Tiger Woods, J.K. Rowling or Richard Branson. All of them committed to something, became experts in their field and achieved great success.
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Patrick Pechmann is a freelance writer and the owner of patrickpechmann.com, where he writes about dating, relationship and self improvement. Writing, entrepreneurship and discovering the path to success is what gets him excited.