On Commitment

I’m a tough guy. Well, at least in my own mind, I am. Compared to the hardest men and women to ever grace the planet, I’m a total wimp, but that’s not the point. When faced with a difficult challenge, whether physical or mental, I’m able to convince myself I’m a badass, and this determination is enough to get me to push through any obstacles in my way. In the American Midwest, where I was born, there’s a blue-collar, nose-to-the-grindstone attitude which was instilled in me early in life. This doctrine has always been the method I’ve used to help me to suck it up, ignore the pain, and commit to hammering past any demanding objective in life. Until recently, that is.

A handful of years ago I discovered mindfulness meditation, the study of which opened up an entirely new way of looking at the world for me. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that “flow,” both in sport and in life, is a far easier — and more rewarding — way to accomplish our desires. Being present means appreciating the here and now and allowing the world to come to me instead of attempting to forcefully bend the future to my will. After some years of practice, this ideology now feels natural.

The so-called easy way of approaching the world is no less valid a form of commitment than the grind-it-out version. Each philosophy has its strengths and weaknesses, and both work well in many situations. So, which is better? I don’t believe there is a right answer; I still use both approaches at different times and attain good results. For you, one or the other might be a superior solution most or all of the time. Which one you choose doesn’t matter as long as your system helps you make the commitment necessary to achieve the ambitious goals you hope to reach.

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