HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS TO YOU?
There are many ways champions set themselves apart. One of the most obvious and most important is their level of commitment. Champions are willing to pay the price that winning requires them to pay, regardless of the situation or the circumstances. They are fully dedicated, even to the details of the work, and fully pledged to their pursuit.
That’s the kind of commitment each of us are required to make if we’re serious about the success we say we’re after. It could be success in sports or school, in building a winning program, business, culture, or relationship. In any area of life, there’s a price winning requires us to pay. Developing the kind of commitment it takes to pay that price, regardless of the situation or the circumstances, starts with answering a simple question: just how important is this to you?
That question speaks to your level of conviction - to just how much winning in this area means to you. The answer to that simple question is so important because when you boil it all down, your level of conviction determines your level of commitment. A minor level of conviction creates a minor level of commitment. If this thing you say you want is just kind of important, then the choices you make and the behaviors you exhibit will reflect that lukewarm belief. Doing what winning requires today is one of many options. Among all the other options you’ve got, it’s something you can do.
But a major level of conviction creates in you a major level of commitment. If this thing you’re after is really as important as you say it is, then the winning choices you make and the winning behaviors you exhibit will validate that winning belief, too. If it’s really as important as you say it is, then doing what winning requires you to do today isn’t just an option. It’s the only option! It’s not just something you can do. With this kind of conviction, it’s something you can’t not do. It matters too much to remain undone.
When it’s really important to you, the choices that need to be made and the behaviors that need to be exhibited are clear. Then, commitment comes easy. That’s because there’s only so much room in your mind reserved for things that rise to the level of “really important.” The more space your desire occupies, the less space there is for other things that diminish your commitment to exist. Making excuses isn’t as important. The desire for comfort isn’t as important. How you feel isn’t as important. What winning requires you to do diminishes the value of the other options.
Just the opposite is true, of course, too. When what you say you want isn’t really all that important, you give your excuses and your desire for comfort and how you feel more influence and more significance. Doing what winning requires you to do is an option, but so is taking it easy, skipping out on the work, and justifying that missing today is no big deal. For better or worse, conviction determines commitment.
So the big question for you today isn’t, are you committed? The big question for you today is much simpler: just how important is this thing you say you’re after? If it’s really important, then you’ll make the necessary commitment. The choices you make and the behaviors you exhibit will serve as the evidence that you are fully dedicated, even to the details of the work, and fully pledged to your pursuit. You’ll pay the price that winning requires you to pay, because it’s something you simply can’t not do.