Wide White

Keeping commitments

Towards the end of last year I determined to post on this blog every day. I kept it going for a few months before scaling back due to the demand on my time, lack of ideas for posts, etc.

But since I started this blog, I’ve always posted at least once a month.

Which is why it’s 11:45 PM on August 31st and I’m finally getting my August post in. I made a commitment and I’m going to keep it. Sure, it was to myself, but I’m still going to keep it.

Earlier this year, my company did a 10,000 steps program. It’s a 12-week health program where you walk 10,000 steps (roughly 5 miles) a day, which you track with a pedometer. You also have to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables 4 days each week, drink 48 ounces of water a day, and eat a healthy meal that was specified for each week.

I managed to get the maximum number of points because I’m competitive. I had already wanted to lose weight, but was pretty sure I wouldn’t take some of the pieces of this program seriously. But when my boss said she had aced the program last year, that was all the incentive I needed. Once I knew it could be done, I committed myself to doing it.

I ended up losing 20 pounds over the course of the 12 weeks and won $100 at work, so there was more than just competition at stake.

Blogging each month and walking each day are pretty different, but they have two commonalities: neither was required of me, yet each task was public. Everyone who reads this space knows when I don’t post. Everyone who was in that program and on my team would have known if I hadn’t gained as many points as I could have.

If you’re struggling with keeping a commitment – eating better, exercising more, spending more time with your family, finishing a book – there’s no better way to make sure you achieve your goal and keep your commitment than to make it public.

One of my goals right now is to simplify my life. I want to sell and get rid of things I don’t need, eliminate my debt, and work towards a simpler life at home, at work, digitally, etc. But I haven’t done a very good job of acting on that goal.

Very soon I’ll be opening up a new corner of the web dedicated to this goal of simple living. I figure there’s no better way to move forward than to publicly discuss it, and while I could use this space for it, it’s important enough to me that I want to create a new space in the interwebs dedicated to that goal.

I’ve purchased a domain name and am working on building the site. This is the first time I’ve even talked about it outside of a few very close friends, but I know going public with that goal will help give me the last push I need to finish the project and start moving forward.

I’ll share more about the project once it’s going. Until then, what do you think? Does going public with a goal or commitment help you keep it? Do you have other methods that help? I’d love to know what works for others!