What is Commitment?

Aug 25, 20204 min read

Updated: Dec 5, 2022

by Likky Lavji (As seen in the June issue of APeeling)

According to the Webster’s dictionary commitment is an agreement or pledge to do something in the future. Pledging resources to something. The state or an instance of being obligated or emotionally impelled to do something.

A lack of commitment can occur when you treat your promises casually. If it gets done it gets done, if it's late, it’s late, we’ll get it done when we do. It can show up in a lack of emotional commitment because you don’t believe in the project, your heart isn’t in it, or you are not fully engaged in seeing things through to the end result. Sometimes, a lack of commitment comes across as wishy washy because you don’t take a stand for what you believe, or you don’t really care either way. All of these behaviours and attitudes can be attributed to the lack of commitment blind spot, which will impede your success and that of your team.

When people aren’t committed to anything, it can mean they were not held accountable in the past so they do not believe it matters if they keep their word, deliver on time, or show up. In business a lack of commitment happens because the right questions haven’t been asked due to not trusting the process.

My Commitment Story

When I read Robin Sharma’s book, the 5am Club, I decided to commit to the process. In the book he says, “Own your morning, elevate your life.” The idea is to get up at five and do 20 minutes of cardio, 20 minutes of reflection, meditation, or journaling, and 20 minutes of personal development. Doing these activities first thing in the morning gets you in the right mindset to take on your day. You start at 5 because the hours of four to six are the most peaceful hours. I committed to this morning routine on December 24 of 2018 for six months and my life changed.

I credit my commitment to this process to the positive changes in my life during 2019. I discovered what I wanted out of life and where I wanted my business to go. Every day I committed to everything I said I was going to do including courses on public speaking to become a professional speaker.

And then life got in the way.

At first, I was committed to the 5 am club, then it became the 7am Club, then when I felt like it and my personal development stagnated. My business stagnated. I wasn’t going through the process and my results reflected my lack of commitment. I recommitted to the 5am club January 2020 and found my drive, motivation, and opportunities. I’m committed to growth and personal development and it’s made a difference in my life, but I had to commit to myself.

The first step to positive change is a commitment to yourself. You have to commit to creating the life you want. A mentor I look up to tis helped me to get where I am today. He helped me to work on this exercise called life, which is by designed by us.

I get teared up every time I talk about this change in my life because I tried to make changes throughout my life, but wasn’t able to achieve the results I wanted. For example, I tried losing weight through different diets and I didn’t achieve long term results. Then I met my mentor and we started talking about creating the life I wanted.

He asked me what the life I wanted look like? I didn’t understand what it looked like, what I wanted. I went to a personal development seminar for professionals one day and the facilitator asked what we wanted. Everyone stood up to explain what they wanted for their businesses, careers, and professions. The Lululemon staff was there and when it was my turn I stood up and said, “I want my company to be like Lululemon because they’re so engaged, and they love everybody. Look at you guys. You are all here.” Then I sat down and didn’t think about my answer.

During the next break a Lululemon manager came over and asked me, “What did you mean when you said you want to be like Lululemon?” I said, “I like the way you guys are, your culture.” She then asked if she could come by my office the next day to go through an exercise with my team. Of course, I invited her to visit. She had one condition, for all the members of my team to be committed to doing the exercise. “No problem.”

My whole team showed up the next day and agreed to participate in the exercise. She gave us some paper and pens before asking us, “How do you want to feel in 10?” Where are you going to be? Where are you going to wake up? Who are you going to wake up with? What are you going to be wearing? What are you going to be smelling? What will your day look like? At first, I created a checklist which basically was a list of my present life, but better. That wasn’t what she wanted. She was asking us to write a story full of emotion and details we could see in our minds. It is easier to commit to a future life when it is a story full of emotions and details than a sterile checklist. That was 7 years ago, and I am 80% closer to the life I dreamed of that day.