The importance of commitment in life and representing yourself in life and work will help you greatly no matter what endeavour you are tackling. Commitment is defined as the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause or activity. If you are committed to your job you will show up on time every day and be a reliable employee. In this post, you'll learn how to be more committed in life and its importance.
Commitment is so important to building your reputation in life. This is critical to how people see you and what they think of you. With the fast-paced life you live each day it seems people fail to deliver on their commitments more than ever.
The current young generation is more interested in scrolling on their phones than deciding to commit to a cause at hand. While this may only be true in certain circumstances you don’t want to be an unreliable person.
Whether you commit to phoning someone at a given time, have a meeting with a client, or even go out for dinner with friends and family. If you say you’ll be there at 6:00 p.m. stick to it. If I’ve learned anything in life from the tens of thousands of hours of working is that if you stay committed to everything you do and say, you will be well respected and viewed by others.
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If you fail to commit to meetings with others, you will be seen as unreliable and flakey. I’m sure you know someone who always shows up late. Every day no matter what the circumstance or event they are attending - they will most definitely be late. (You don't want to be this person!)
While this may not seem like much of an issue in the short term it’s a bad habit to adopt into anyone’s life. You don’t want to be viewed as someone who can’t make it somewhere on time or at all. Usually, these people have an excuse for every circumstance as if it were out of their control - which it's not!
If you can focus on being committed to each and everything you say you do you will have fantastic results. Keep in mind you don’t have an unlimited amount of time each day. That being said you must choose what is important for you to commit to and what isn’t - aka priorities or priority at that given time.
Say no to the things that you know you won’t be able to hold your end of the commitment. You won’t be able to do everything you want all of the time. To commit to a cause, meeting, phone call, event, or whatever else, you will need to manage your time accordingly and build some structure into your life.
Time management can be tricky especially for busy people getting pulled in multiple directions every 5-minutes. One way to manage your time is to create a schedule. This could be in the form of a physical planner you write in, a phone calendar, or something else of your preferred choice. Structuring your days and weeks will help you to be more productive while also staying committed to the things you said you would do.
Of course, things will change from time to time and you will need to adjust on the fly. A structured day is a great guideline, but will never be set in stone. Learning to adapt to the changing circumstance at hand is a highly valuable skill that will take life experience to master.
Every day in life you are representing your brand - this brand is you. Whether you know it or not, the decisions you make and commitments you make (or break) will reflect that brand. It can take years to build yourself up as a respected, loyal, and trustworthy person but only one dumb quote to tear it all down.
What you say and how you act daily will have a direct result on you and your name. You are crafting your brand for the better or worse with each action of your life. While this may sound a bit intense and extreme it does hold truth.
Take a look at the successful CEOs, public figures, athletes, movie stars, and celebrities of the world. People who are perceived as leaders, mentors, and idols to many. They may have worked for their success for a decade or more and have built a great name for themselves. They are seen as a pioneer and class-leading expert at what they do and say.
And then one day almost in the blink of an eye where they say something offensive, racist, or sexist and whether they knew it or not their reputation plummets almost instantly.
Headlines are seen across the country backing up the negativity. Instantly all of their hard work comes crashing down. It can take months, years, or decades for this person to build back their brand and be seen as they were before. Sometimes they may have ruined their reputation for life.
The point I want to get across is that commitments are ultimately the foundation of your brand and reputation. They are the building blocks to be seen as someone reliable, trustworthy, loyal, and respected. All qualities of a leader and someone who people admire.
Now, are you ready to commit to your cause in life? Whether that means showing up to your job every day on time, phoning someone you said you would connect with, or meeting someone for coffee. Do your best to commit to whatever it is you do in life and you will be respected in your field.
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Chris M Wilson
Chris Wilson is a keynote speaker, CTI coach, and entrepreneur. Through his Hover to Fly framework, he aims to impact the next generation in their careers and lives.