Do you have trouble sticking to a commitment? How do you stay committed to your goals?
It can be hard to stay committed to a goal if the work’s hard and you feel like giving up. But in How Champions Think, Bob Rotella has a number of methods that’ll give you the push you need to follow through.
Find out how to stay committed to your goals, no matter what.
Boost Your Commitment
Once you have a training plan to follow, you must adopt a relentless commitment to your goal that drives you to invest more time and effort into honing your skills than others do. Commitment means you work steadily toward your goals and are willing to make sacrifices for them.
(Shortform note: In The 12 Week Year, Brian P. Moran says you need four things to exercise strong commitment: First, identify a strong “why” to motivate you (such as the dream of becoming an entrepreneur). Next, recognize the best and most effective path you could take to produce the outcome you want. Then, be prepared for the sacrifices you’ll have to make to follow through on your commitments. Finally, push through negative feelings and focus on your promises.)
Here’s how to stay committed to your goals, according to Rotella.
1) Reflect on what you enjoy about your craft. It’s easier to be committed to your skill when you’re passionate about it. But, according to Rotella, many people struggle with how to stay passionate. This can happen for a number of reasons—they may encounter a lot of rejection or feel like they’re not improving, for instance. To renew your passion, Rotella suggests you regularly remind yourself about what you enjoy about the work or activity you do.
(Shortform note: If plateaus or rejections are hurting your motivation, one way to rekindle your passion is by reimagining your good memories—for instance, when your team won a match or when you completed your novel manuscript. Imagine that memory being vividly projected on an IMAX screen five to 10 times. This will get you excited and motivate you to pursue that feeling once again.)
2) Create good habits. Replacing bad habits with good habits can help you stay committed to your goals. Habits are unthinking behaviors that don’t require willpower. Rotella explains that all habits begin with a cue—something that triggers you to do a certain action. To replace a bad habit, you must recognize the cue and consciously respond differently to it. For instance, finishing dinner might be a cue for you to plop onto your couch for the rest of the night. If you want to work on your novel instead, you must create a new response to the cue. Instead of going straight to the couch after dinner, you might force yourself to go straight to your writing desk.
(Shortform note: While starting a good habit might be simple, sticking with it tends to be much harder. In The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor suggests you’ll achieve greater success with your habits if you make them easier to start. For example, if you want to write after dinner instead of lounging on the couch, you could lay out your writing materials on your desk after you get home and pile objects on your couch so there’s no room to sit on it. This minimizes the effort it takes for you to start writing while increasing the effort it takes to relax on the couch.)
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Like what you just read? Read the rest of the world's best book summary and analysis of Bob Rotella's "How Champions Think" at Shortform.
Here's what you'll find in our full How Champions Think summary:
- The secret to how some people can achieve extraordinary success
- The shared mindset that sets champions apart from average people
- How you can master skills, learn from challenges, and reach your goals
