Why Are Some People More Successful Than Others
With Seemingly the Same Opportunities?

Because they make Commitments, not just Decisions. What’s the difference? Let’s unpack this and find out.

How many decisions have you made and not followed through with them? We’ve all done it.

I am going to lose weight.
I am going to only check my emails at specific times during the day.
I am going to complete my monthly reports on time.
I am going to phone clients back within 24 hours.
I am going to make sure I leave the office before 6 p.m. every night.
I am going to turn my phone off when I get home until 8.30 pm so I can spend time with family.
I am going to exercise every morning before work.

We make these decisions with the very best of intentions, and we actually take action on them. But, after a few weeks we let all kinds of other things get in the way and we abandon the achievement of everything we decided to do.

Decisions are nothing more than ideas in our heads unless we follow through on them.
Commitment is the Energy that fuels our action.

Commitment means –
I am going to do everything I possibly can to achieve that goal, to make it happen.
I am going to jump every obstacle that is put in my way.
I am going to manage every part of my personality that gets in the way.
I am going to put in place every possible support that will help me remain committed to this goal.

If I do everything I possibly can to achieve that and it still doesn’t happen, I will not give up. I will create a Plan B and keep trying. That’s one of the important things about commitments. They are very important to us.

Self-Discipline drives Commitment.

Committed people are self-disciplined people. They do what they should do, when they should do it, whether they feel like it or not. That’s why they are successful.

Kop Kopmeyer who has written about success for more than 50 years says there are 999 other success principles but that without self-discipline none of them work.

The challenge this week is to take time out to clarify what you want to make a commitment to in your professional and personal life that will make a significant difference. Commitment requires time, energy and even a financial investment so your commitment needs to be important to you. Take action now to begin to change your life.

1. Get everyone on side who will be affected by this commitment. Let them support and encourage you.
2. Shift your priorities so that you have time to make it happen. This will probably mean letting go of something you presently are doing.
3. Depending on how big that commitment is, you may find it helpful to get a mentor or coach who will keep you focused and help you navigate the road to success.

As a mentor, one of the biggest areas of my work in recent times has been people changing careers. For a long time, my mentees have procrastinated about it. They have decided some time ago that they need to change jobs, even change careers, but because it feels so big and full of risks, they fear to really commit to it. Mentoring can work with those fears, eliminate them one by one, help create paths to the success they desire and uncover potential and talents they didn’t realise they had. Most importantly, the process of constantly turning up to a mentoring session sees them maintain commitment to achieving their goal.

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