Our current series is discussing The Disciplines of a Champion. We’re halfway through, so if you missed the first two disciplines, you can find them here: Discipline #1 of a Champion and Discipline #2 of a Champion.

 

Discipline #3: The Commitment of a Champion 

When I graduated from college in 2005, one of my goals was to start a blog. I knew I had a passion for leadership development and wanted my blog to be an outlet for that passion and to help other aspiring leaders. The problem is that it took me nearly three years to actually create my first blog site. 

Why did it take that long? 

Because I hadn’t fully committed to that goal. Blogging was a desire but not a priority. I was a spectator, not a participant.

There are two commitments that champions make.

First, they make a commitment to themselves. They commit to their goals and carve out time to accomplish them.

It wasn’t until I created a plan and committed to that plan that my dream of blogging became a reality.

However, my problems didn’t end with creating my blog site. The next challenge I faced was consistency. I would write regularly on my site for a few months and then other “priorities” or activities would get in the way. Then I would recommit to blogging, write some regular posts for a few months, and then stop. This cycle continued for about 4 years.

Then, in 2012, I wrote one blog post every week for an entire year. 52 posts. So what changed? 

Accountability.

In 2012, I asked a friend if she would proofread my posts. And that simple act of knowing someone was expecting one post each week gave me enough motivation to accomplish my goal.

The second commitment champions make is to someone else. They share their goals with others.

There is no such thing as a solo champion. In sports, athletes always have a team. They might be an individual athlete in the arena but they always have a coach, trainer, etc. holding them accountable. 

If you want to perform like a champion then you must practice relentless discipline by committing to yourself and also to someone else.

 

Game Plan

Think about the goals that you are currently not making progress in. Why are you struggling in those areas? My guess would be that you either (1) haven’t carved out time to make that goal a priority and/or (2) you don’t have someone holding you accountable to that goal.

What changes do you need to make to start making progress towards those goals?

 

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