Commitment is spelled with a capital C

Mike Hendricks

One of the downsides of living in modern day America is a lack of dedication, a lack of focus, a lack of commitment in getting the job done and getting it done right. This applies to almost every aspect of life. We see it in the work force, in the classroom, in athletics, and in relationships. We too often look for the easy way out and, in doing that, we cheat ourselves and others as well.

I had a student come see me at the beginning of this semester who had not fared well in the classroom during the fall semester. He admitted he had not been focused or committed, his priorities had been jumbled, and he was re-committing himself to do whatever it took to be successful this semester. His re-commitment lasted for two weeks. Unfortunately, this occurs far too often with some students. They have a little time off to reflect on the bad grades they received and that are staring them in the face on the grade sheets that are sent to each student. They decide things will be different the next time around but unfortunately, all too often, it doesn't last.

Coaches encounter the same attitudes with some athletes.

Even athletes that have great natural talent become complacent, lazy and satisfied with giving less than their best. Only the greatest motivators can coax that athlete into discovering a work and practice ethic that will result in maximum output. So many great potential athletes wind up on the slush pile because they spelled commitment with a little c instead of a capital C.

So many employees do the least they can possibly do and still remain employed. They are the last to arrive and the first to leave. They try and get others to help them complete their tasks and, when possible, get others to do their tasks completely. Their coffee breaks and lunch breaks are longer than anyone else's and their sick leave days are used up more quickly than others.

Relationships are no different. We become complacent with the ones we love. We know we have to sacrifice and not always do what WE want to do because we have an obligation to the one we love. But so many people want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to do exactly what they want to do, without taking the other person's feelings or desires into account, and yet they expect the other person to understand that and continue to love them the way they did in the beginning. One of the reasons we see so many troubled relationships is that the couple remained you and me instead of becoming we. We lose sight of the fact that if we do whatever we can to make the person we love happy, if that person is worth having, they will return those favors over and over to us. Many people don't think they have to work at a relationship, they think things are just supposed to take care of themselves.

Well, things don't just take care of themselves. Whether you're a student or an athlete or an employee or in a relationship, you have to constantly work to make yourself better and the situation you're in better. You have to focus on what you desire to achieve. You have to concentrate on being the best you can be, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day. Until we are ready to Commit with a capital C, we will always come in second. The sad thing about this is we often don't even realize why. Other students get better grades and we don't understand why. Other athletes get to start while we sit on the bench and we don't know why. Other employees get raises and promotions over us and we don't know why. Other people have happy relationships and satisfying love affairs while ours is in the tank and we don't know why.

We should all check the mirror from time to time. We should all do a personality inventory on ourselves. We should all take stock of where we are, what we have, what we want and whether or not we're proceeding in the right direction. And, if we're not, we need to do our best to find out why. If you're not reaching your goals in any of the areas I've mentioned, I would suggest the first place you look is how to spell commitment.

To win and succeed in any area of life, commitment MUST be spelled with a capital C.