On commitment

I’ve been thinking, and to some extent it seems that if you want to “sell” a piece of writing well, you should word it along the lines of “Eight tips for how to…”, “Six methods for…”, “Ten reasons why…” and so on. Write “train this much and eat more of this, that and the other, and the result will be great.” Illustrate your piece with fun little pictures to match, and you’re set. This is of course my generalization and doesn’t always hold. This kind of approach to writing articles is also completely at odds with my principles. But still, just try finding readers for an article that simply talks about hard work or commitment.

Strange, but that’s how it is, and there is certainly a grain of truth in it. On the one hand, the reason is that people want real techniques they can put into practice right away. On the other, in many cases people still believe in miracles and think there must be some “other methods”, “secret solutions” or shortcuts that let you somehow reach your desired goals more easily. But miracles, unfortunately or fortunately, don’t exist. To get something, you have to give something back, and in many cases quite a lot. I tell you, if an article stresses that you will reach your goals if you are committed, then through that one word it gives you more useful information at once than quite a few pieces that outwardly seem to offer direct “tips”.

What does commitment mean? When we say “Sparta”, “the Spartan school system” or the like, most of us understand roughly the same thing by it. We associate it with a particular way of life: strict, disciplined, harsh training and so on. Similar associations and emotions should arise when we talk about commitment. When we say that “commitment” is the foundation of success, we should broadly understand what it takes to reach a good result. Unfortunately, “commitment” in the purest sense of the word, as I understand it, is still not popular when people are pursuing results, and probably never will be.

On commitment: sacrifice, patience and all possible measures

My reflection on commitment actually applies to all areas of life and to any situation where people are working toward their goals. Naturally, I’m speaking first and foremost about striving toward goals and about commitment in sport and training.

Sacrifice

This is perhaps the most easily understood component of commitment. If you want to achieve something, you always have to give something up, to a lesser or greater degree, in order to reach your goal. It makes no difference whether the goal is 10kg of body weight, 20kg added to your bench press, or something else. What’s more, the bigger the ambitions you set, the bigger the sacrifices usually required, and to reach some goals you even have to swap your entire old lifestyle for a new one. You have to cut out many foods you used to eat, stop doing quite a few things you used to do, and give up quite a few former comforts. It isn’t simple or easy.

Patience

All processes in life take time. Nothing happens in an instant or overnight. Only death can come in a flash, and even that isn’t always certain. In fact, every activity has consequences, but they are so minimal that we don’t perceive or notice them. After just one workout we have already become stronger to a certain degree. Supercompensation is the purest manifestation of the fact that even a single workout makes us progress, but these positive changes are so small that we simply can’t sense or see them. For the microscopic functional positive changes that come with workouts to “eventually show”, our workouts have to be repeated a great many times, regularly and progressively, over a longer period. Even the most minimal progress that satisfies us usually demands a great deal of patience and time. Nothing happens overnight, at least nothing “tangible” and significant.

All possible measures

We’ve been patient, set aside time and given up quite a few things; now it’s important to review and bring in everything for achieving your goal that didn’t fit under the first two points. Is recovery in order? Is nutrition sorted? Am I getting the maximum out of supplements? Do my training programs really match my specific goals? Am I pushing hard enough in my workouts? Is my training frequency optimal? And so on…

In my view, these three components make up commitment, and of course you are able to commit to something if you truly want it very much. Wanting is the prerequisite for commitment! Just as, for example, if you want to build yourself a house, you must also have a lot of money. To commit wholeheartedly to something, you must first want something very badly. If there’s no money, you won’t build the house; and if you don’t want “something” enough, you won’t be able to commit properly either.

Author: Janar Rückenberg

Source:Turg.Fitness.ee

Come and work out! ArtGym