commitment
“Commitment is an act, not a word.”
- Jean-Paul Sartre
How many things have you said you’re committed to, but your actions don’t follow?
🙋♂️
I’m guilty.
When I read this quote, I immediately felt uncomfortable because there are many things I’ve committed to, but shortly after committing, I allow my actions to drift from them
I’ve made these commitments with the best intentions, yet my actions don’t always match my internal thoughts and dialogues since most of these commitments are made to my Self.
There are numerous reasons why commitments end up being just “words” and not actions. Some reasons are excuses–with time being the number one scapegoat. While there is truth in some of the excuses, like time, the reality is if the commitment was important enough, the excuses would go away, and I would find a way to bring it into action.
A great example of this is my weight training.
I currently have a random and sporadic weight training routine–I manage to get 3-4 sessions in a week, but they are at different times of the day and different days of the week, and they lack the consistency I’d like to see. Since I’m still getting them in, I have given my Self a pass around my commitment to lift weights regularly.
I have endless reasons why my weight training schedule is not what I really want it to be:
Basketball and soccer practices
Work
Sleep
Being present with family in the evenings
Bedtime routines
Being a taxi driver
Being an active and contributing partner in my marriage
Early morning workouts would wake the family
This list is not unique to me, but these are all legit reasons I fit my weight training where I can. I tell my Self it could be worse–I could just not do it. But the truth is there is an answer that would bring my commitment to weight training into action: prioritize a set bedtime, wake up early, and go to the gym down the street from our house.
This would take my commitment, which is part words and part action, and turn it into action, as Sartre describes.
Two things I’d like to encourage you to think about:
1.) Are your commitments stuck as words because they aren’t important to you and don’t align with the authentic life you are pursuing? If so, that’s fine, but drop them–having commitments that aren’t important and don’t align with where you are going is a waste of time and energy.
2.) Have you taken time to identify the real reason you haven’t brought them to action and discover the solution? Once you have the solution, it becomes harder NOT to turn your commitments into action.
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
🦅 Some ways I might be able to help you live your authentic life:
🤝 One on Ones Let's hop on Zoom to do a guided meditation, a creative brainstorming session, or an overcoming an obstacle session.
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