Why you must commit before you are certain
For the majority of my life, I have wanted to be certain before committing to something. I wanted to know that I had enough information to reduce the chances of making the wrong decision. The problem is, we never really have enough information and if we wait until we can see the full picture, often the opportunity has passed.
It seems logical to weigh up all of our options and thoroughly research a subject before taking action. However, my experience over the past few years has taught me that clarity comes from action. We can visualise and speculate until the cows come home, but it’s only once we have taken action, that the rest of the puzzle starts to fall into place.
In fact, you may have even experienced a time in your life where you did your due diligence and felt one hundred percent confident that you were making the right decision, only to find out further down the line that it actually wasn’t. A really basic example I can think of in my own life, is buying a product online. I would spend hours reading through reviews and asking questions, often to buy something that wasn’t what I expected.
This principle can be applied throughout life, and I often experience it when I am coaching my clients. They say they aren't ready to commit to a goal or make a change due to lack of information and they feel uncertain. In my experience, the people who achieve the best results, make a decision and commit before they are certain. They create certainty through their decisions and believe that they are resourceful enough to find a way to make it work. This often involves taking the leap before you can see the landing.
This week, I had this realisation whilst I was planning my workshops for next year. I had ideas in my head of where I wanted to host them, but felt I needed to find out more about the town or city in order to gauge if there would be enough demand. As I was doing my weekly reflection, I realised that the only way to really test demand was to commit to some dates, put up a page on Eventbrite and start promoting it.
Our brains don’t like this, they want more security than that, what if it doesn't work, what if no one signs up? What if 5 people sign up and then I have to cancel it? What if…..
The list is endless.
This is an evolutionary instinct which takes effort and tactics to override. As Tony Robbins says “If you want to take the island, you have to burn your boats”. The power is in the decision, not the information about the decision. Once you have made a decision, you must commit to it. If you keep options open, it will not have the same result and you will open yourself up to a minefield of doubt.
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too” — William Hutchison Murray
So how did I apply this to my own goals? I scheduled the events in my dairy and committed to making them happen. I decided that, even if only five people signed up, I would run the event anyway. Once I had the events scheduled, it felt real and things started to move.
The next time you are struggling with action or a decision, remember that the power is in the moment after you have made the commitment.
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