DON'T BE JUST INTERESTED

Many of us live our lives through interest. We are interested in success, but not truly ready to put forth the effort. We are interested in losing weight, but not truly willing to do what is necessary. We are interested in getting great grades, but we lose interest when friends with ideas for fun come along. We are interested in being in relationships, but when an argument comes along it sometimes seems easier to just get out. We are all interested in many things. The problem with interest is the fact that we don’t truly succeed in life based on interest alone.

When we run into a wall while we are just interested, many times we give up. When we face difficulties when we are merely interested, we stop giving effort. We need to develop something bigger than a meager interest. Nobody ever became successful in something they were merely interested in. Professional athletes are interested in their sport, but they had something deeper than interest driving them. Teachers are interested in helping others, but they have something more important than interest driving them to succeed. Managers are interested in helping those under them but if they are truly great, they have something more significant than interest driving their success. Interest alone never created success.

We need to develop commitment. True commitment creates success. Anybody that succeeds in his or her field isn’t merely interested; they are fully committed. When we are committed, we endure, we persist, we are resilient, we are patient, and we create our own future. When we are committed, we don’t worry about what has happened, we face challenges with an optimistic and overcoming spirit. When we are committed, quitting is not an option. When we are committed, we will do what’s necessary to overcome any obstacle in our path. I challenge you to develop more commitment in your life. There is a difference between interest and commitment. When we are simply interested, we put forth effort when we feel like it. When we are committed, we put forth effort for a grander sence of accomplishment despite our feelings.

I hope you develop commitment in the areas you truly want to succeed in. I am interested in golfing. It is something I enjoy doing, but I am not committed to becoming the absolute best golfer I can be. I do it for fun. If I wanted to become a pro golfer, I would have to develop that commitment to the game and to improving myself in that area. I strive to improve my golfing skills, but I am not going to take time to improve on something I'm interested in over something I'm committed to. Find the areas in your life where you should be interested and find the areas in your life where you need to develop a deeper commitment. When you know the difference between what you are simply interested in and what you are truly committed to, your life will change. You will realize it's more important to study for the time you committed to than to go hang out with friends. You will realize it's more important to stick to your commitment of working out rather than sitting on the couch. You will realize it's more important to fight through the difficulties at work instead of giving up. When you understand what you are merely interested in, you realize you might be spending too much time on your interests and not enough on what you are committed to. When you develop a deep sense of commitment in your life, you realize what is most important and you realize what you should be spending most of your time on. Develop a deep sense of commitment. Figure out what you are merely interested in. Commit to what you truly want to achieve. Greatness seldom happens without a total commitment to effort and results. Commit to creating the life of your dreams.