Time: 7:05 AM
Date: 22nd January 2008
Motivation is not commitment. Too often these concepts are confused.
Motivation is how much you want something. Commitment is what you are prepared to do or sacrifice in order to get the something you want.
‘Oh, I’ve just attended a seminar and I am feeling really motivated!’ ‘I want to live an amazing life and tap my true potential!’ Unless these statements are backed up by an equal dose of commitment, the best thing that can happen to the person making them is for the motivation to drain right out of their system.
Motivation comes with hope and no one likes to have their hopes crushed by reality. “But this time I am really psyched - I am really going to do it.” Not without commitment you won’t.
No matter how motivated you are feeling in this moment, your motivation will drop away in the future. We’ll have moments when we are psyched. We’ll have periods of deflation. When the deflation kicks in we either crash or we struggle through. Those who struggle through deflation demonstrate depth of commitment.
Those who crash when feeling not so motivated show us what happens when we are dictated by our emotions. Until they generate depth of commitment they will not come close to exploring their potential.
In studies conducted on sports people it has been shown that there is a huge difference in the commitment levels of those who excel relative to those who don’t. The gap is not so large in the motivation stakes. Somebody going for a Saturday morning stroll might feel more motivated then the athlete facing up to a gruelling workout at the gym.
Feelings of motivation won’t mean much when pain, fatigue, adversity and deflation set in. It’s look like rain up ahead and the non committed finds themselves at home gorging on a take away pizza in front of the T.V. The committed Saturday stroller and the committed athlete expect challenges and they expect to move right through them.
So what is the highest level of commitment? When you are prepared to do whatever it takes. Doing whatever it takes is not about being reckless and certainly not about perfectionism. It’s about doing our best to see things through no matter what and maintaining our integrity.
I was once in a 12 step recovery group and I heard somebody say that their mentor had told them that they should never ‘pick up’ their substance of choice, no matter what. “If your entire family die in a car crash, do not pick up. If your house burns to the ground ,do not pick up. There are no set of circumstances possible where picking up is OK,” said the mentor.
In the opening of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, the preamble seems to support this suggestion of complete commitment, “We stood at a turning point. Half measures availed us nothing.”
And for those of us not in recovery but serious about raising our consciousness, we are warned by Sri Ramakrishna, "Do not seek enlightenment unless you seek it as a man whose hair is on fire seeks a pond."
Not interested in enlightenment nor recovery? In the domain of businesses start-ups an often quoted statistic in the United States points to a harrowing fact: Approximately 95% of new businesses fail within the first five years of operation. Of the five percent that remain, approximately 95% of these fail within the following five years.
A friend of mine in the venture capital industry told me recently, “The days of giving money to brilliant business plans are gone. It is expected that every plan will fail. After the plan fails, it comes down to the character of the people behind it.”
When I was 18 years old I had a goal of becoming world champion in water ski racing. During a training session a submerged log caused me to fall at over 120 kilometres per hour.
The impact of the water caused major nerve damage and I was told that my right arm would remain paralysed and painful for the rest of my life. A few months passed and I went to work. Two years down the track I competed at the world championships. I was employed to assist one third of the Australian team.
The skiers that employed me won numerous medals including gold, silver and bronze in the overall championships. More importantly, for me, I had discovered my great passion: Assisting people to use their mind and body to do their very best in any context.
Whether it be recovery, business, personal development, sport or any pursuit, the path requires commitment. The universe will do its part, (on its time and in its own way — not ours) when we follow through.
Any thoughts or feedback? You can email me personally or post a public response below.
All the best!
Michael Dayes
Phone: 02 96532967
Mobile: 04 1234 2114
Postal: PO Box 788 Darlinghurst
NSW 1300 Australia
Appointment room: 26 Yarrara Road
Pennant Hills NSW 2120
www.michaeldayes.com
