Commitment is a topic of importance for me right now. Before I go over my thoughts on the subject, I want to share with you my last week.

The past few months I have been searching for a job in the architecture profession. No one is hiring, for many reasons. Although the economy can explain my lack of success on getting a job, it still puts a toll on my self-confidence. This stressful situation has left me discouraged, disappointed and with no hope. I have exhausted my resources.

I woke up Wednesday morning and just laid in bed until noon, since I had nothing to get up for. No major responsibilities, no job, no kids. Then, I realised I didn’t want to feel like that. At that moment, I began concentrating on feeling the exact opposite. Courage, self-confident, able Amanda is here!

When I got out of bed on Wednesday, I felt I needed some motivation outside of myself and a change of pace from the job hunt. I listened to several personal development book summaries by PhilosophersNotes while doing the dishes. One of the summaries was so profound to me that I stopped cleaning and started taking notes. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven R. Covey is a great book for motivation, clarity, and executing commitments which is my main problem.

• Habit 1: Be proactive. Honor your commitments. This was the most important habit that Brian Johnson summarized for me. Broken commitments take up so much of our energy! I paused the audio and began writing down my commitments. Some I need to re-commit to, such as my eating habits. I suggest you go now and do this for yourself now. And begin honoring yourself by fulfilling your commitments.
• Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind. This is basically visualizing what it would be like if you honored all your commitments or finished that task. Make your plans a reality.
• Habit 3: Put first things first. What are your priorities? What do you spend most of your time doing? I waste A LOT of time surfing the web, watching tv, and other meaningless things. WHY? I don’t know. Well, actually I do. Lack of self-discipline. I need to work on my discipline. I have been following Steve Pavlina and he has a 6-part series on self-discipline. “Motivation only lasts a few days. Discipline is like a muscle. The more you build it, the more you can rely on it.” -Pavlina
• Habit 4: Think Win-Win. I am part of a Cozy group within The Raw Divas community and our relationship is like this. We offer our time, skills and support in exchange for resources, knowledge and the support of others. It is a wonderful group!
• Habit 5: Seek first to understand by taking time to view other perspectives.
• Habit 6: Synergy. 1 + 1 = 3 (or more) Again I feel the dynamics of The Raw Divas in this idea. A group of women is far more powerful than one woman alone!
• Habit 7: Sharpen the saw. Always be expanding and growing.

SO! Back to the main idea: Commitments. I just can’t seem to keep mine! So I have devised an action plan:

1. Write them down!
2. Start an action plan: how are YOU going to follow through on these commitments?
3. Visualize either in your head, making a drawing, or a short story describing your typical day of how fantastic your life is when these goals are achieved.
4. Act. NOW!

Another great quote is from the book The Other 90% also summarized in PhilosophersNotes.

“Are you closer now to where you want to be than you were a half-hour ago?”

-Robert K. Cooper

I think this 1/2 hour personal accountability is really powerful. I have this question in big black letters (soon to be watercolored, will share later) by my computer. There is NO WAY I can thouroughly enjoy watching a sit-com with that question looming in the background!

Tags: Commitments, Inspiration, quotes