Without Daily Commitment You Will Never Know What You Are Capable Of

Starting anything new is hard. But what's even harder is staying committed to the process.

Anyone can say they want to write. Then they open up their laptop, type a hundred words and that's it. It ends there. They give up. They never write again.

Anyone can say they want to build muscle. Then they sign up for a gym membership and start going to the gym. After a week or two, they find it hard. Their bodies get sore. They can't endure the pain of lifting weights, so they give up.

And do you know where such people usually end up?

They become what Hal Elrod in his book The Miracle Morning calls "The mediocre majority".

If you are reading this, you may be one of them. But don't worry, it's not a death sentence.

You can turn your life around today. You can become one of those who don't start things and give up the minute they feel a little pain. You can become part of "the exceptional minority".

You have to put up with the pain of commitment

Pain is hard to bear and our brains are wired to avoid it as much as possible. We constantly avoid anything that takes us out of our comfort zones.

But think about this;

Our forefathers lived in hard conditions. There was always the fear of getting attacked by a wild animal. There were harsh weather conditions and very little medication like we have today.

However, they had to go out and get food to eat no matter the weather or what dangers surrounded them. Do or die, man up or starve to death.

If they didn't, their generations would not have survived over time. We would all have perished.

You see, you don't grow or make any progress if you fear pain. Anything that's worth doing carries with it a degree of pain and your only goal is to overcome it. Once the pain of doing anything is overcome, doors open up, momentum sets in and magic happens.

I always had a hard time committing to anything. I would start tasks and drop off along the way when I faced obstacles. These days, I've learned about asking one important question which often helps to determine whether I will stay committed to a new task or not.

The question I ask myself is; will I be able to put up with the pain that goes with doing this task?

Will I be able to do it every single day, even if I feel tired, sick, or busy? Will I stick it out on days everything seems to go wrong?

If the answer is NO then I know it isn't something worth committing myself to.

You will always find an excuse if you look for one.

I have a cousin who told me he wanted to start an online store. That was his new year's resolution. I asked him a few weeks ago how he was doing with the store. He told me he couldn't do it because of the pandemic.

Excuses!

You will always find a thousand reasons for not doing something if you aren't committed to it.

If he had started his online store since January, how would his life have changed by now?

I don't know. Maybe he could have been making a ton of money selling stuff online. Or maybe he could have lost money on trying to run an online shop.

Either way, he would've been successful or he would've failed and learned.

Right now, his life is still the same and he doesn't know how much it could have changed had he been committed to doing something.

Consistency is not fun, it's boring but its the only path to growth

· Waking up early every morning to write isn't much fun. Some days you will prefer to lie on the bed for a few more minutes.

· Hitting the gym five days a week is tough when you get started, you will always find a thousand excuses not to show up.

· Sitting down every day to practice playing the guitar is hard when you start. There are days when you will feel like breaking the instrument into pieces

And that's what no one tells you about becoming successful in anything. It takes a lot of showing up to do the same thing again and again. It takes doing a lot of repetitive tasks that overtime gets boring.

And given that we now live in a time when distractions are plentiful, staying committed to a single task has become somewhat a superpower.

To wrap Up

To truly stay committed to any goal, you must be willing to put up with the pain that goes with it.

You will never build muscles if you don't put up with the pain of lifting daily. You must learn to love the pain that goes with becoming successful.

If you never commit to anything you will never know what you are capable of achieving.