James Smith’s Info Serv

Author: Helen Ewing

Are you disappointed when people do not keep their commitments? Do you keep your commitments to others? Do you keep your commitments to yourself? What is happening when we are excited about committing to something and then fail to follow through?

It has been my experience that we make commitments too quickly and do not think about the basic elements in making them. Some commitments are “no brainers” and others require further thought into what the ramifications are in obligating ourselves. However, even too many “no brainers” can use up the time available to assume other more meaningful commitments. Typically we make commitments because we believe there will be some sort of reward for doing so, such as; returned favors, recognition, financial return, spiritual fulfillment, etc. So, it makes sense to notice how many commitments we make and how they give us energy or drain us.

Let’s consider what the elements of commitments are as a method to make better choices and realize more fulfilling results with an example like, I want to lose ten pounds in six months.

1. The Obligation. What is the commitment itself and what is required to keep it? The commitment is to lose ten pounds. What is required to keep it means I will have to use diet and exercise in some combination, at some level of consistent frequency, over some measure of time.

2. The Know How. What is the expertise needed to complete it? I know I will have to cut out as much fat and sugar as I can. I know I will have to exercise using aerobic and strength building exercises. But, I will have to do some research on what kinds of nutrition cuts I can make that are in alignment with what I like to eat. I refuse to eat food so void of flavor that I hate eating and dread tracking my performance. I will also have to do some research on what the correct amount and type of exercise is for me. Why commit to a jogging routine when I have no place to do so?
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Author: Anastasia Netri

I woke up on January 1st, 2009 at 7:15AM. The alarm clock went off and I thought about hitting the snooze. A voice deep within roared with a boom and said, “What are you committed to?”

I had made a choice to start the new year not with a party, but a good nights sleep. I choose to wake early, meditate and exercise. I wanted this year to start off with a statement, a tone for the year. When that voice spoke and asked me what I was committed to, I thought it would be powerful to answer that with some specifics.

I sat up in bed with my journal and a pen, and wrote out the question: What am I committed to in 2009?

I started writing and was amazed at what I saw before me on the paper. Here’s a very small excerpt:

I am committed this year to serving the highest good of myself and others. I am committed to using the gifts I have to serve the world in the way I feel called to.

I kept writing. I found myself looking at what I was committed to in the past.
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Not long ago, a young friend wrote me saying something like this…

“Hi Tony, I wanted to share a quote with you.”

“You’re probably already familiar with it, but, in case you’re not, I think you’ll like it because it’s similar to one of your favorite quotes by Wallace D. Wattles.”

“Here it is:”

“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. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.”

“I 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!”

I was already familiar with this quote by W. H. Murray (William Hutchinson Murray, 1913-1996) from his 1951 book entitled “The Scottish Himalayan Expedition”, but, until my young friend’s email, I’d long forgotten just how good it was.
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