Commit or Stay Stuck | Day 22

Last night, I was out with Jill (as Coleman’s do.. out on a Wednesday), and we were talking about our goals to hit before the end of the year.

My goal was to be 100% committed to a single direction in my career.

It sounds like an odd goal, but in my working life I’ve always had one-foot-in and one-foot-out in a variety of projects, companies, and roles.

I think I do it because it’s safe.

As long as I’m semi-committed to a variety of things, if one those opportunities is taken away or doesn’t work out, I’ll still be secure.

Humans are loss adverse. Meaning, it feels worse to lose something than it does good to gain something. The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t type of thing.

But by doing this I’m taking away my own power. When you’re kinda sorta doing a lot of things, you’re not really getting great at anything. You’re not progressing in any one direction. You’re drifting. Or rather, I’m drifting. 

I love this diagram from Greg McKeown’s book Essentialism. It describes exactlyhow I feel – going in 17 different directions without progressing on any one.

But when we commit to something, or someone, that’s where the power lies. That’s when we start to see real progress in our life. 

This morning I was thumbing thru Do The Work by Steven Pressfield and came across this quote by W.H. Murray that describes what I’m trying to say flawlessly –

So often we “wait for the perfect moment” or until “we’re ready” to take action on something.  I’m just as guilty as anybody else. But there is no perfect moment. There is no “ready.” There will always be something else that comes up. There will always be an excuse to put it off until later. 

But don’t. Don’t wait. Just commit. To something. To anything. Sure, when you commit there is a chance for failure. There’s the chance we will fall on our faces, and that’s scary. But it’s also the only way to achieve what we want. 

If you can’t vibe with W.H. Murray, maybe Marshawn can break it down for you..

This is the greatest video I have ever seen in my life 😂😩😭 pic.twitter.com/miB0ZF1Sdt

— Football Posts (@FballPosts) June 21, 2016

 

There you have it. Just run through their face.