The Most Important Commitment You Can Make
Commitments. Commitments. Commitments. They fill our days, our
heads and our lives. Most of us are in the commitment business.
Of course, that's not what we call it. At work, we're making
commitments to customers, suppliers, bosses, coworkers and
staff. At home, we're making commitments to family, friends,
neighbors, community and organizations. Not to mention
commitments to pay taxes, credit card bills, mortgages and car
loans.
Commitments become our drivers. Like the proverbial hamster
wheel, we can't stop the stress, or the time demands we obligate
ourselves to, because of commitments. We work so we can meet our
professional, personal and financial ones. We work so we can do
the others things in our lives we want to do. We work to get the
good review, the promotion, the raise or the new job so we can
get the house or the car or the next big thing.
As tapestries of commitments seemingly blanket us, we may feel
we "have" to do something, when in fact we have a choice, even
if it's one with consequences. We may think we can't let someone
else down, when in fact we can say no. We may even believe we
work for other people, when in fact we work for ourselves.
When we "get" that we work for ourselves, we become the drivers,
not the passengers, of our commitments. Only then does our
commitment orientation change. We discover it's easier to say no
and more gratifying to have choices. You see, with all the
commitments we make, most of us miss the most important one
there is ... the one we make to self.
However, people who are winning at working make that commitment.
Not in a selfish egocentric way, but as the author of their own
life. They commit to use their unique gifts and offer the best
of who they are to the world. They commit to their dreams. And
they commit to becoming who they are capable of becoming. Often
their work is a path to do that.
After twenty years in management, I found clear differences in
people who made the commitment to self-actualization and people
who didn't. Self-committed people are building their skills,
working on personal growth, acting like owners and offering
their talents without being asked. While others watch from the
sidelines, these people are solving problems, resolving
conflicts and assisting others. They give. They take action.
They make things happen. They're energized, enthusiastic and
passionate about work.
You see, when you understand you're working for yourself, that's
what happens. Making a self-commitment to become your best you,
doesn't reduce your commitments or your work, but it does alters
them. When you commit to bringing yourself to your work, in the
deepest sense of that concept, something happens. That something
fuels your passion and ignites your spirit. If you want to be
winning at working, make the most important commitment you can
make. That commitment is all about you.
(c) 2006 Nan S. Russell. All rights reserved.