Episode 54 – Committing and sacrificing

“The quality of your commitments will determine the course of your life.”– Ralph Marston

• I love this statement
• I cannot agree more
• The things in my life that I wholeheartedly committed to turned out to be the most successful endeavors I had
• However, committing and sacrificing go hand in hand
• You cannot do everything
• Maybe you can but it its half-hearted that you undertake each one
• Committing to something means really putting your heart into it
• And that often means you have to give up something else
• To come to the US I gave up my life in Germany
• I gave up my apartment, sold the IKEA furniture I had just bought a year ago for my first own apartment, and left my family
• Sometimes it doesn’t feel like you are giving up anything
• You are excited with the prospect of what lies ahead with your commitment
• That was the case for me
• Coming to the US filled my entire being – I was beyond excited
• But other things are not so easy
• Some people don’t like to leave the comfort of their home and move far away
• It wouldn’t be something they would be excited over
• Daily we give up things to do something else
• We give up reading that good book that’s been calling from our nightstand to sleeping, because we are exhausted
• Each day we make choices
• we often think that fierce commitment and strict rules of sacrifice are only reserved for elite performers – dancers, actors, athletes, acrobats, – anyone that will stand in the spotlight, performing at a level that is world class, maybe even breaking a record
• These people really understand discipline and they know that every detail matters
• A night of bad sleep or a day of bad food choices can affect their performance in a huge way – whereas for us its just another bad day that we are slogging through
• For the elite one day lost can mean a gigantic setback, a lost world record, training that has to start over, increase in expenses and time that have to be spent to recover,
• The consequences of a lost day due to bad choices can be unrepairable
• For us – well it can mean the same
• We can mess up in an important presentation or meeting, we can miss appointments, calls we have to make, but often, we can dodge the bullets
• We cancel meetings, we call in, or we drug up on coffee and make it through somehow, hoping this day will end quicker than others

• I believe this:
• Anything worthwhile in life is going to require some sacrifice
• Now you may say – well my job as a marketing analyst or newspaper delivery person or Uber driver is worthwhile
• That’s exactly right.
• We all have meaningful ventures in our life
• This could be our job, our family, our homestead we are attending to, helping others, adding value
• We all contribute value in some form
• That is why I say:
• We cannot afford to lose days due to bad choices
• We cannot afford to perform below our capabilities
• Every day, every useful action, every genuine word and every clear thought count
• These may not set or break a world record, but they are equally important
• They are important for you and your path in life
• And I always say that a bunch of small but well-thought through decisions can lead up to something bigger, something not yet imaginable to us
• Think about how life flows sometimes:
  • A kind word can lead to a connection, a friend or a business partner
  • A superb presentation can lead to a recognition, a promotion, a sale, a new customer, an idea or concept approved
  • A well-planned and executed meeting can lead to the start of a new business or add more profits to an existing business
• And each one of these can lead to even more,
• I could go on and on about the possibilities
• Every day counts
• For every one of us
• And this is what I would like to achieve with this podcast
• This is my main objective
• To help you make every day the best day it can be under the circumstances given
• I provide you tools and ideas that help you on your path
• And today I want you to consider your commitments
• What are you committed to

• To commit to something, to do it extremely well, you may have to give up other things
• If you don’t have anything, pick one thing and do it really well
• If you have many, drop some and decide on one or 2
• Each situation will require that you sacrifice

• The sacrifice could be as simple as giving up free time, less browsing on Facebook or watching TV
• Or it could be as hard as leaving your well-paid and successful job
• It could be choosing between many different hobbies and activities that you all enjoy
• It could be leaving everything you are good at and dedicating your entire being to something that is you don’t know anything about
  • Think about a person that has been addicted to drugs for many years
  • Giving that up means leaving comfort and venturing into the unknown
  • Its both – sacrifice and commitment

• Commitment comes with the knowing that everything you do affects how well you perform on your goal
• Whether your goal involves activity with your body or your brain – everything you do directly influences your success with either
• And this is because body and brain are connected
• You can be the most successful body builder, runner, acrobat, or dancer – if your brain is not tuned in, it doesn’t matter who many hours of exercise you put in
• And what effects your brain?
• We talked about these before –diet affects your brain – and so does sleep, and emotional well being – receiving and giving love, healthy relationships, etc.
• It all connects
• If you are a writer, a website developer, a researcher, any person that mostly uses her brain throughout the day – you will know that good sleep and intellectual stimulation are critical for you, but you also may have discovered that You perform even better when you include regular movement and exercise into your day
• I say it again:
• Commitment comes with the knowing that everything you do affects how well you perform on your goal
• Sacrifice becomes an important part of commitment – the understanding that, in order to be the best at what you are committing to – you have to forgo other things
• Our challenge as people that live in abundance is that we think that just because we have everything, we don’t need to give up anything
• It’s a byproduct of growing up in a world that provides us with everything we need
• People that grow up with very little learn early on that not everything is always there, and in order to obtain something, something else has to give
• It’s a good thing to have many options, but it can also make life challenging
• It can set us up to never really choose anything completely, to dabble in everything, learn this and that, but never to commit completely to something
• Commitment requires sacrifice and we are afraid to give up
• Any diet you ever tried probably taught you that its really hard to give up

• I want to encourage you to look at sacrifice in a less constrictive way
• In order to achieve something meaningful, sacrifice is inevitable
• I believe Sacrifice is liberating
• Yes I know
• It feels constricting to
  • Not be able to eat what everyone else eat
  • To go to the same events and places everyone else goes to
  • To
• Change your perspective
• You only see the people you see
• You don’t see all the others at that do the same you do
  • They don’t buy the sweets
  • They are not out at the bars
  • They are somewhere tucked away working hard on their goals
• Commit to something give up whatever you need in order to make your commitment successful
• That may be time, it may be money, it may be things you enjoy doing or eating
• Undertake something hard, not as glamorous as everything else
• But because you love it, you believe in it
• Its calling you, so answer
• Committing to you goal, and sacrificing non-essential goals will enable you to get the most out of your ability and will allow for the complete realization of your potential.
• This process will not only result in the achievement of something that is extremely meaningful and self-fulling, it will also provide significant personal benefits for you as a mature human being
  • self-confidence,
  • motivation, and
  • discipline
• so, think about commitment and sacrifice today
• commit
• stick to it
• and go after it
• don’t doubt yourself,
• don’t question
• get all those questions and doubts out of the way before you commit
• once you decide to commit, you gotta go
• easier said than done, I know
• but if you never try, if you always give up half-way, you will never see the end
• pick something meaningful and go for it
• it will be hard, but that’s how you know it was profound