Shooting Stars, Abraham Lincoln, Prayer, The Beatles, and Commitment

Inbound Marketing A through Z – A Reprise:

C is for Commitment

It is a funny thing about life and goals. Once you set out on a path, clearly defining your destination, it’s as if the blinders are removed and the floodgates of knowledge are opened. Information, resources, and people seem to materialize, all with one purpose, to help you get that much closer to your destination.

I once heard Tony Robbins say,

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

In my experience, that statement is extremely accurate.

But why?

Is it something mystical or magical? Some sort of attraction thing that happens as soon as we remove the blinders and set off on our journey?

Many think so.

Many believe so!

At one time, I may have been among them.

OK! I was!

“A magical, mystery tour!” to quote The Beatles.

Yes, I think we all go through that at one time or another in our lives.

I think it is part of who we are as entrepreneurs:

• Open
• Receptive
• Creative
• Different…definitely different!

Chanting manic mantras into a mirror and the rest.

Come on, admit it!

Interestingly, we all come to the realization, sooner or later, that all of that activity without forward motion is worthless.

Today?

Today I am more practical.

I haven’t left it all behind…but a lot of it. It comes with age, experience, and getting beat up by life often enough.

I guess that’s experience!

It also comes from the realization that forward motion is essential…if only to break the strangle hold of inertia.

I sincerely believe the number one enemy of achievement is inertia!

The first step in breaking the strangle hold of inertia is commitment to a Goal. I believe success is about more than simply setting goals. Success is about committing to your Self and the Goal.

Both in capital letters:

Self and Goal

I know some people go around telling people goals are counterproductive, that you shouldn’t set goals, that they don’t work, and all that other mumbo jumbo.

Try getting anywhere in life, literally or figuratively, without a map.

Ain’t gonna happen!

Commitment is the First Step on the Road to Success: "You're either in or you're out. This is no such thing as life in between!"

A Goal is a Map

If you want to reach your destination, focus on a Goal and start looking in the right direction.

Success in business, in any aspect of life, is about setting a Goal, seeing the end result, at least how you envision it today, because it will change, and making a commitment to work towards that Goal.

Commitment is one of the “C” words in the Inbound Marketing A through Z, our ebook to be released on September 7, 2010.

Goal is obviously one of the “G” words and will be covered in depth as well.

Commitment is a solitary act. Commitment can’t be superimposed from On High or by way of some self-help “guru.” And, commitment can’t be made easier for you.

Coming to terms with and making a commitment is one things and one of those times when you do have to step in front of the mirror, look yourself in the eye, and ask:

“Am I willing to pay this price? Am I willing to do whatever it takes to get to where I want to go? Is this Goal really worth it?”

Those are hard questions and you must be deadly serious when asked and answered.

Why?

Because your life will change forever once they are answered!

The magic of achievement is understood best in the context of commitment because, without commitment to a Goal or a Destination, achievement is impossible; or, at the very least, highly unlikely.

Shooting Stars on Summer Nights

Setting out on a journey, setting any kind of a Goal, a deliberate path in life as the result of your Primary Desire, is like going out on your lawn on a summer’s night, lying down on the grass, and looking up at the sky.

You are looking in a new direction, shifting your focus, looking at something new. Yes, it is something familiar, something you always knew was there, but you never really paid much attention to it before, at least not the way you are now, looking up to the heavens.

When you begin to look up, things become apparent, you notice things. Interestingly, the things you notice were there all the time. However, they were not available to you because you weren’t focused on them and you weren’t looking in the right direction.

So, there you are, lying on your back and looking skyward on a summer’s evening!

You are seeing things differently. All of the sudden, a shooting star appears, then another, and still another. By the end of the evening you get up off your back, walk into the house, and announce to everyone that there are a lot more shooting stars than there used to be. You are convinced that this is the case. You are sure of it…there are simply more than ever before.

And you would be wrong!

You see, the shooting stars were there all the time, you just never took the time to notice them before. As soon as you shifted your focus and looked to the heavens, the shooting stars were everywhere.

The same thing happens when we set a Goal or set out on a particular path in life, our eyes open and information, resources, and people who were there all the time materialize before our eyes.

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

Or

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Luke 11.9-13

No, I am not getting all religious on you, there is a time and place for everything and I take my beliefs seriously and hold them privately, but I am including the passage above because it illustrates just how long this mindset, the belief in the possible, if you seek it out…if we just ask.

The wisdom of the ages!

Ask who? Ask God? For some the answer is emphatically:

“Yes!”

For others, it is simply a matter of asking, even demanding, it of our Selves.

Many believe both are applicable.

Abraham Lincoln and Prayer

Abraham Lincoln is said to have been asked about God and the power of prayer in his life. Whether another myth about the man or not, and Lincoln’s religious beliefs have been hotly debated by historians.

However, I like the answer he is said to have given with respect to prayer:

“I pray like He will answer and I work like He won’t.”

Whether historically accurate or not, it sounds like Lincoln who was a pragmatist in all things.

Getting Back to Our Goal and Our Shift in Focus

Setting out on our journey, a journey to a destination we are willing to pay the price demanded of us, is our first step. To get there, we must shift our focus, create a new vision, and be open and receptive to where it takes us. The fact is, we will receive information unavailable to us previously. We will gain access to resources we were unable access before. And, people will appear and offer assistance when for many years we may have been going it alone.

Something magical does seem to occur, something amazing, something almost mystical!

However, while it is amazing, it is neither magical nor mystical, we have simply changed our focus by setting out on an amazing journey and our eyes are now open to the myriad possibilities before us.

The inertia, self-doubt, and inaction have been replaced by a flood of success tools that were always there, just waiting for us, along with the people who were ready, willing, and able to help us use them…once we were ready.

Because we are no longer looking down, we are now looking up, focused on the possibilities, our prospects for future achievement, like the heavens, seem endless!

“More important than all the talent, all the resources and all the opportunities – is a solitary act of commitment” Peter Baskerville

I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. This is something of a switch and I would love to hear what you think. Please leave a comment below and don’t forget about The Ultimate Internet Image contest (just click the link the details are on the home page)! The date has been pushed back to September 7, 2010 in order to allow for a few more entries and because of Labor Day in the States.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this and comment.

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John Zajaros
The Ultimate Internet Image
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
Skype: johnzajaros1
216-712-7004

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