by Debbie Ruston, Featured Contributor
ASK ANY SUCCESSFUL person from any walk of life about the importance of commitment. You will find that anyone that creates success in any area of life is totally committed to do what it takes.
Does this mean that individual doesn’t have life’s challenges that get in the way? Not at all…they have learned to work around the challenges. Let’s break down what this looks like. Here are a couple of scenarios that could come up….
First example – You have specific things to do in your business today. It could be marketing, speaking to clients, or it could be finishing a project for an existing client. Some sort of challenge arises. It could be a number of things. Maybe the phone lines are down so you can’t make the calls or the internet is down and you can’t do the computer work required until technology co-operates again. There are any number of possible challenges that 
can/do arise in life and in business. What to do? -reschedule your day to fit in what you missed doing – if the phone lines/internet are down and you require this to get the job done…go on to something else on your “to do” list and come back to this later in the day. If someone else is affected by this change, be sure to let them know the change in plans. The secret is – do not let the task go undone….simply find a way to get it done either later in the day or reschedule to the following day. Be committed to getting the task done.
Next, you commit to being somewhere for a business appointment at a specific time. It requires a 1 hr drive to reach the destination. You leave an extra 20 minutes early to be there on time, but despite best efforts, there is a traffic jam that leaves you stuck in traffic. What does the successful individual do? There are a couple of options that can be determined through a simple phone call. Call the person you have the appointment with and go over the options. One option would be to change the time for later that day. The other option would be to reschedule to another suitable time, or perhaps even a different location would be a solution to get around the traffic jam. By having the professionalism to contact the person, one is able to show the commitment level, and, find a suitable solution.
There is a definite distinction in the area of commitment between successful individuals and unsuccessful. Unsuccessful people tend to buy their excuses – I got stuck in traffic, the phone lines/internet were down, I was going to, but…., I planned on it, but….. These people basically buy their own excuses and wonder why their life never changes or gets better. They are victims of circumstance and can’t see past their own challenges. And “co-incidentally” challenges keep coming up for this individual and they believe that the “odds” are against them. In many cases, these individuals believe the “timing” is just not right for them.
We can learn so much from other people that have success – this applies to everyday life situations as well as business. Successful people have all the same challenges, as unsuccessful people. The difference is we are solution oriented. We find a way where there seems to be no way. We look at challenges as a Y in the road, not a stop sign. We realize that there is a solution around the challenge, we just have to explore the options and find the way that will be best. It isn’t difficult. It is being willing to look at possible solutions, instead of looking at every challenge as a stop sign. There is huge benefit to the individual that understands and lives their life by keeping commitments. It also builds self esteem, confidence and leads to greater success in every area of life!
