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Do You Have the Courage to Commit?

Mountain climber helping mountain climber at top of rocks

Courage to Commit is what you show when you make a choice – and stick to it!

Often a certain level of risk is involved and therefore it is even more important to maintain your course. Young people don’t always have to wait till the right apartment, the right partner or the right education turns up. Sometimes you need to choose and then make your choice the right choice. See life as a decision tree and remember: History never shows the alternative, the fork you didn’t take.

Existence is choice. Life is binary. It all boils down to a digital on/off. Your life and your future is the consequence of a continuous stream of your choices: step-by-step and experience-by-experience. It only takes one person, one deal, or one opportunity to change your life.

Existence is Choice. Life is binary.

You must dare to make decisions and accept that you will never obtain full knowledge. By continuously working towards an ambitious goal and making consistent choices you can secure your course. Before you know it, you will acquire the ability to see around corners.

In my work with top executives, one theme is recurrent. It is always when operating at the border of their comfort zone that they achieve their greatest breakthroughs. Behind every frustration lies an ambition. Significant conflicts create stellar outcomes. Something unexpected happens and next-level thinking occurs.

I have seen hundreds of entrepreneurs succeed. In retrospect, their success often looks like a piece of cake, and onlookers envy them. However, in the specific circumstance, the entrepreneur probably went all in and betted everything on an uncertain potential upside – doing something that the on-looking envious people would never have dared. Often, it takes 20 years to make an overnight success.

To be honest I have seen even more entrepreneurs fail. But that is the well-known odds for success. By doing nothing you are sure to fail. When you have found your personal goal in life every one of your efforts will seem natural and uncomplicated. You will accept trading in short-term pain for long-term gain. Muhammad Ali expressed it like this: “I hated every minute of the training, but I wanted to live my life as a champ”.

You may have been tempted by defining success by comparing yourself to others. But as long as you follow traditional success criteria you will reach a traditional outcome. You will live your life according to the expectations of others without realizing your dream. Commit to a cause or a community and get the most out of your life. We can all be heroes – just for one day!

My best advice regarding difficult choices consists of a risk management recipe. First answer the following question: “What is the best thing that could happen?” Then answer the following question: “What is the worst thing that could happen?” Finally, ask yourself: “What is then the most likely outcome?” Then count 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 and decide. Go with your guts.

Your challenge is to find out what you truly stand for – to find your own voice. Through continuous self-monitoring and self-improvement, you can reach a state of relaxed readiness and peace of mind. Then you will have found the source of your courage to commit. Make yourself proud.

By Stephen Bruyant-Langer

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