Staying committed to a project is difficult. No doubt about it. Depending on where you find your numbers, somewhere between 40 to 50 percent of all businesses fail within the first 5 years. And according to research by CBInsights, a tech market intelligence platform that analyzes millions of data points on start-ups, a lack of devotion is amongst the leading reasons for failure.1 2
If you want to avoid becoming another statistic, commit to something and never look back. Draw a line in the sand and make a decision to never again settle for a haphazard performance.
Key Takeaways
- Commitment is a promise or firm decision to do something. A committed person is someone who firmly decides on a desired outcome and then puts in hard work to get there.
- If you want to take your business to the next level, share your ambitions with the public. Take the first step and call friends and family and let them know you are entering a new chapter in life. It is a healthy way to raise commitment levels.
- True dedication comes with repetition. The more time you invest in your endeavour, the more committed you become.
How to Commit to Something the Right Way
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, commitment is defined as “a promise or firm decision to do something.” A committed person is someone who firmly decides on a desired outcome and then puts in hard work to get there.
The reality of entrepreneurship is that results are delayed. As an entrepreneur, you invest countless of hours just to break-even, but large profits arrive many years after launch. Perhaps you take on too much responsibility and stretch yourself so thin that you struggle to achieve the growth you desire. The absence of rewards leads to a loss in motivation.
Business owners get discouraged when their actions don’t lead to positive outcomes, but what they don’t understand is that progress isn’t linear. There’s a lag time between what you think should happen and what actually happens. The effects of repeated efforts remain unnoticeable for the longest time (This is something I talk about in depth here).
If you want to lead a successful venture, you can’t let a lack of achievement discourage you. Commitment means you have to continue in the face of adversity. It is only when you fully devote yourself to a project and abandon all expectations that you transform your dreams into a reality—That’s what commitment is all about.
Related: The Remarkable Power of Changing Your Locus of Control
Raise Your Commitment Levels by Doing This
Peer pressure carries a negative connotation. It is a word used most often by family members and teachers who want to keep kids from being pressured into doing something harmful, such as drugs. Though pressure from our peers often encourages a negative activity that we don’t want to partake in, it can also be a powerful tool of motivation.
When you publicly disclose big goals, you are more likely to stick with them. A study by The American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) shows that if you commit to completing a task but keep it to yourself, you increase your chances of achieving personal goals by 65 percent. If you tell several people, you improve your chances by 95 percent. Once you have taken a stand and have a reliable friend to hold you accountable, you will encounter pressures to behave consistently with that commitment.
If you want to take your business to the next level, share your ambitions with the public. Take the first step and call friends and family and let them know you are entering a new chapter in life. Announce on social media that you launched a side hustle and ask people to share your post. Committing to something publicly significantly increases your odds of success. It is a healthy way to raise commitment levels.
Related: 5 Ways to Stop Caring What Other People Think
How to Commit to Something
The more time you invest in your endeavour, the more committed you become. When I first started writing at MikevanderPoel.com, I only had a few articles to my name. Unbeknownst to me, I put in the necessary steps to become committed. Though I was devoted to making this website successful, it wasn’t until I had amassed over 50,000 words, or the equivalent of a standard size book, that I felt obsessed with my cause. True dedication is the result of repetition.
A related but rather negative principle is widely cited by economists. The escalation of commitment is a phenomenon where people continue to commit to an investment despite previous losses. This could be an investor who continues to pour money into a stock despite years of decline, or a gambler who proceeds to pull the lever on a slot machine.
The idea behind the escalation of commitment is that dedication strengthens with investment. At first, you will have to break out of your comfort zone, but with a lot of time and effort, you develop the tendency to stick with your course of action. It’s hard to give up on something when you’ve put in countless of hours into it.
Though it is possible to stay committed to the wrong thing, such as a business that is just not producing profits, it’s rather rare and only happens when you have a flawed idea. Any business can become profitable if you work on it for years. As Helen Keller said, “We can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough.”
Related: Why Great Things Never Came from Comfort Zones
Commitment Is Not a Guarantee for Success
When you’re committed to a project, you can still fail. A gambler will never rise to riches because the odds are not in their favor. Similarly, you don’t know if a business idea will take off. A commitment may not be a guarantee for success, but I believe that it significantly improves your odds. After all, running a profitable business is about improving the odds as much as you can. Successful people mitigate risk in all areas of their business, and implement good behaviors that will help them achieve specific goals. Make a genuine commitment and you’re well on your way.