Are You Committed?

Let me present an imaginary situation. You are 15 years old, and one day your parents are going out for dinner, and they assign you the responsibility of taking care of your sibling. You accept the responsibility. A couple of hours later, your sibling starts making a fuss when your parents are out. She is hungry and wants to eat something. What would you do? Would you sit and do nothing, complaining about how your parents did not have some food prepared for you to feed your sibling, or would you figure out a solution? No matter your and your sibling’s imagined age, I am sure you would figure out a solution to satisfy your sibling. You would rustle up a sandwich, or you would do an online order for a pizza(assuming your parents left you some money!!), or you would keep your sibling distracted enough to forget her hunger.

In this imaginary scenario, as the elder of the two siblings, if you are given a task, and you agree to undertake it, it means you are taking ownership and responsibility. When you take responsibility, it means that you are committed to finding a solution on your own if there is any problem.

Leadership coach Dan Rockwell says something brilliant. He says those who are not committed find faults while those who are committed find solutions.

What is true in the imaginary scenario I describe is something true in any other facet of our lives.

You can complete whatever task is assigned to you if you are committed to it. If you are not committed, all you will do is whine and complain when you encounter any challenges. But if you are committed, you will find solutions, no matter what.

So if you ever find yourself complaining about something or someone in the context of some task you have been given responsibility for, ask yourself, “Am I committed?”