In my last blog entry I identified that first step in creating lasting change…Be clear about the change you want. Get Focused. Once you have clarity about the change you want, it is crucial to commit to the change. It is not enough just to say you want something, you have to set your intention to create that outcome in your life. The way you set that intention is to make the commitments to yourself that will guarantee the outcome you want.
Commit to yourself. Exercise Integrity
Without question, there are lots of challenges, obstacles and temptations in your way to creating the change you want. It is the commitment you make to you that will sustain you in those moments when you are tempted to revert to old habits that sabotage your healthy choices. The commitment that I have made concerning my health is; I will do this for me.
If your commitments are for the sake of someone else, which is often true when you are in a committed relationship, then your whole heart will not be in it. When your whole heart is not in it then you will be tempted to take short cuts or back track on your commitment or just break it all together. This brings up the issue of integrity.
Integrity means to be true to one’s self, one’s values and one’s standards and beliefs. Ultimately, I want to be congruent with my values, standards and beliefs. I want to maintain the commitments I have made to me. When I think about the high protein, low carbohydrate diet that I have been on since January 1st, I am the only one who truly knows whether I have taken opportunity to cheat on the diet. When and if that happens, the only person I cheat is me. Not only is it counterproductive to my plan, it breaks the commitment I have made to me and ultimately that effects the way I see myself. I lose respect for me when I break commitments to me, which makes room for a cycle of disappointment and frustration. This creates a sense of instability and double mindedness. There is actually a verse in the Bible that says, “A double minded man (person) is unstable in all their ways.”
I know what that instability, double mindedness and disappointment in self feels like. I’m sure you do too. The thing is, people around you see and feel that instability in you as well.
What I want; is to be congruent, consistent and dependable in my character. It is what allows me to sleep at night without that niggling sense of self doubt. That all begins with my willingness to commit to myself and to maintain those commitments.
What is the commitment you need to make to you, to create the change you want?
Terry
