Monday, September 7, 2009

Selecting your "4 Commitments" for "The 365"


I have been getting a lot of questions from people looking to start their "The 365" program. A great deal of them revolve around the challenge of picking 4 Commitments. I thought I should shed some insight.

First off.. YES. You have to pick 4. That is the program. 4 Commitments that you are willing to commit to, for an entire year - 365 days in a row. Yes, it is hard. Yes, it is challenging and Yes, you will have trouble with it at times. Get over it!!! Remember once you start the program and you get through your first day you then only have 364 more days to go.

Selecting your 4 Commitments should be a bit of an exercise for yourself. It is a chance for you to look at your current situation, life stage, job, family, love life, health, wellness, finances, etc and ask some direct and pointed questions. Am I happy? What would I change if I had the chance? Where could I get more free time? How will I follow my dreams? What is holding me back from being all I can be? Get it? Ask yourself some very open ended questions and start to see if there are some repeating patterns that are showing up. You might be surprised at what you find out. Just the process of asking these questions might stir up things inside of you that were just screaming to get out.

Once you have spent some time asking yourself these questions I believe you will start to see some general direction, common trends and areas that continue to appear. These are the spots where you should look to selecting your 4 Commitments. For example if you keep coming up with answers to your questions that focus into the area of "Wellness" say, then look to that area of your life and think of something you could commit to that will be challenging enough yet attainable, that you could commit to for your "The 365".

Lets break this down a bit and look at this example.
How about you are not feeling rested enough. You have boiled down all your questions and one of the results that jumps out at you is that you are tired. Physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually tired. Now there is a lot going on with being tired in all of those areas, so how do you get a "Commitment" out of this. How do you get a commitment that is challenging yet attainable that will meet your needs to solve the problem of being tired? This is where YOU come in. You need to stop being the "Hero", stop being the "Martyr" and start being the rational, focused and intelligent person that you are. Make a commitment that makes SENSE. It can be a simple as realizing that you constantly are waking up tired. Go to bed EARLIER then! Easy! I commit to going to bed before 10pm, 3 nights a week. Done. It is measurable, attainable and I guarantee, if you go to bed before 10pm, 3 nights a week you are going to be more refreshed for the bulk of that week. This commitment might seem very simple in respect to being tired in all of those different areas of your life but it will slowly start to impact all of them because once your are more "awake" you will be able to direct more energy into the areas that need it most.

One of the GREAT things about "The 365" though is that once you start working the process and get more days under your belt amazing things start happening. The commitments that you have made start becoming easier. They still challenge you on a daily basis but, your "mindset" changes. Your ability to focus and realize the benefits that you are reaping from staying committed overcomes any desire to "break" the commitment. The process really is Amazing.

When selecting your "4 Commitments" think about this as well.
Have you ever heard of Occam's Razor ? William of Ockham was a 14th century Logician who's theory has been adapted and revised by an amazing group of people over time. His theory condensed in it simplest form is as follows - "The simplest explanation is usually the best". People like Einstein, Newton and DaVinci have all worked with revisions of this theory. Why shouldn't you! Taking a more recent approach and yet "un-claimed" revision to Ockham's Theory remember the K.I.S.S. approach. Keep It Simple Stupid.

When selecting your "The 365", 4 commitments remember - Ask yourself a whole lot of open ended questions, find the common areas, make it challenging yet attainable and the simpler the better.

As always I welcome any comments and thoughts. If you are finding "The 365" interesting pass me on a note, make a comment and pass on this blog on to others. Spread "The 365 Effect".

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