[Editor's Note: This article was written by Anna K]

Commitment

Just the sound of that word might give people the shivers or send them running out the door. Despite whatever fears we may have, commitment is all around us.

Life is full of very different types of commitment. If you look at most people, they are committed to something-whether that be school, work, family, friends, or a significant other. All that means is that they have made the decision to do their very best to uphold that obligation and see it through. In some way or another, whether consciously subconsciously, they believe that this is something that holds value to them.

Just as we commit to these external circumstances and relationships, we can look inward and make an internal commitment as well.

What does this mean?

An internal commitment is one that exists entirely within you. If you make or break the commitment you are not directly hurting/helping anyone but yourself. In fact, no one even has to know about it!

Making an internal commitment means choosing a goal that solely exists within you and taking the steps necessary to making it happen. Goals of losing weight, stopping bad habits, or having clear thoughts, for example, are all internal commitments. On the other hand, committing to a job is an external commitment- you fail that one and you’re fired. You forget your significant other’s birthday- you end up sleeping on the couch.
You can see how external and internal commitments differ.

Why make an internal commitment?

When we make an “formal” internal commitment, we are more likely to follow through on it than if we simply tell ourselves that we are going to “try.” The commitment to yourself is recognition that YOU, yourself, are just as important as any external obligation or any goal that you have towards others/the environment. With an internal commitment we are more likely to work harder and get results. We recognize that following through on our commitments gets us closer to our vision- whatever that may be.

How do we make an internal commitment?

Make it formal! One great way is to make a CONTRACT. What we do is we write down, on a piece of paper, what we expect and will hold ourselves to, and then we sign and date it at the bottom.

A commitment does not mean that whatever you write is set in stone. Temporary setbacks are natural and we can recognize that we may veer off and may need to get back on the right path. We determine what we are willing to do and what we aren’t- we are the creators of the contract and it can be as easy or as drastic as we would like. (However, I would recommend that we begin with realistic and easy commitments that boost confidence and slowly build our way up)

Another interesting thing is that we can put time scales on our commitments. For example, we can commit to 1 month or 2 weeks- even a day- whatever time frame we’d like. We determine what is best for us and then afterwards we can review and see whether or not we’ve been successful thus far. We can modify future contracts. We determine our progress. We have no one to blame and no one to thank but ourselves!

After all- no one knows us better than we know ourselves.

So have some fun with it. Make some internal commitments and write up some contracts-see if it makes a difference in your life.