Transformation Takes Commitment

You want to transform your life. You have already decided what you want it to look like. Now you’re sitting there wondering where to start.

2018 was a milestone year for me. It would be the start of the 3rd chapter of my life as many often call it. I would be sixty years old. I don’t care about being sixty. I didn’t feel sixty. I didn’t act sixty. Well, not what I believed sixty to be or what people I knew who were sixty say they felt or acted. I believe you are as young as you feel. In my heart and in my mind, I felt closer to thirty.

I have been overweight for a long time but hit the scales at 300 pounds after concentrating on one of my career goals. I didn’t take care of myself and my body and health suffered. 300 pounds on a short guy is a lot. It affected my ability to do many things I enjoyed.

In 2018, I decided to change. I wanted to look and feel physically like I did mentally. So, I followed the advice I give my clients and made a commitment to change my body and my life.

Make a commitment

The 8th Step in my book, 9 Steps to Successful Goal Achievement, is Make a Commitment. Step 8 is the step where you truly decide you are going to take the action you need to achieve your goal, your dream.

Whether a personal development goal, a business goal or objective, after you define The What, the Why and the How you must make the commitment to take action and do what it takes to achieve your goal. You’re asking, “What does he mean by a commitment.” When I talk about a commitment, I mean an agreement, a contract. When you take out a mortgage for a home you sign a contract, what in the industry is called a Promissory Note. In this note, you agree to do something in exchange for the money to buy your home.

Today, I want you to create a Promissory Note with yourself.

The other part of the commitment is to find an accountability partner. You want to tell a trusted friend or a coach to tell about this transformation. You want to find someone that will hold you accountable to your goal. Someone you trust to be honest with you and tell you the truth when you offer up excuses instead of action.

Create your Personal Promissory Note

Today you are going to make a commitment to transform your life. You are going to create a contract with yourself, your personal promissory note. 

• Put the Date of Contract as today’s date. You are going to start now, right?
• Write your name in the area after “I, ”  Write your name.
• Start writing your goal in the area where it says “My goal for this note is:”
• Be sure to be specific. If you are not sure how specific, read Step 1 in my book, 9 Steps for Successful Goal Achievement. I explain how to be specific about exactly what you want when you want it and how you are going to feel when you achieve your goal.
• Once you complete the goal, put the date you will complete the goal. This is when the note will be paid off with yourself.
• Sign the note with your signature. Your signature is your bond. You are now committed to yourself.

You have just made a commitment to yourself. Congratulations. Remember, your signature, your word is your bond. You must commit to yourself. You must hold yourself accountable. But let’s take your commitment to the next level, The high-performance lever. Don’t just hold yourself accountable. Find an accountability partner.

 
Find an Accountability Partner

I want you to be successful. You can do it by making the commitment. However, you won’t often hold yourself accountable. You will need help. Find someone you trust. A trusted friend, an adviser, a mentor or a hire a coach.
You want to find a person that will hold you accountable to your commitment. As Dr. Gail Matthews at Dominican University in San Rafael, CA found, you are much more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down (we just did that), you make a commitment (we just did that), and you have an accountability partner (do that now). They along with yourself will start tracking and keeping up with your progress to keep you on target.

You and your team are now committed to you and your successful high-performance goal achievement. You are on your way to transforming your life to what you want it to be.  Transformation of your life is possible if you make the commitment to make it happen.