Guy Reams (00:00.654)
This is day 199, write it down. You know, in early 2018, I started a process to make and keep life changing commitments. I came up with something new that I would commit to. And I committed to do it for 365 days in a row. The idea that I'd obtained some promise. If I like, if I run every day,
And at the end of the 365 day process, I will be in shape. That was kind of the idea. So I wrote that down and I did it. I kept the commitment for 365 days in a year, days in a row. So I've been doing that now since 2018. So every 365 days, I come up with a series of commitments that I'm going to maintain every day for 365 days in a row. And I write down what I believe will happen if I do that.
So today marks 199 days since my last series of commitment. So I've done lots of things during this process. I've ran every day. I've wrote in a journal every day. I've meditated every day. I've written down what I exactly eat every day for 365 days a week. I've done pushups every day. I've done setups every day. There's a whole slew of things. I've memorized digits of pi every day.
I've done a whole slew of things every day in a row for 365 days in a row just to see what impact it would have on me. Well, as I've done this, there are three really core principles that I think I've picked up along the way about making and keeping life changing commitments. And I'm going to have a three part series today in the next two days on what I think those three core principles are. The first one is about clarity of intent.
but I call it write it down. So I thought this was a trivial thing, but in reality, it's not. When you write down your commitment, you write down your obligation, what you're committing to do, what benefit you will get in return, that's clear intent that becomes action. If your intent is written down in a precise way,
Guy Reams (02:24.27)
I mean, you actually write it down and document why you're doing it and then have a little bit of pomp and ceremony around it. Tell other people, for example, tell family and friends, do something crazy like publish a blog about it or record a YouTube video like I'm doing. Whatever the case may be, do something that adds some pomp and ceremony to it. You can get creative.
What I do is I write it down formally in a journal I keep with what that commitment's gonna be. I then commit that with a heartfelt prayer that basically indicates this is what I'm going to do. I'm doing it, right? That clear intent becomes documented. And so that's a very core principle. Secondly, I think I also made a commitment to journal every day.
And so I've been that is a habit that I have maintained every day. And a lot of what my blogs are, are really just my daily journals. So maintaining a daily journal is a consistent and constant reminder of your commitments. I always have to go back to my original intent, but the daily journal breathes life back into it every day and allows me to continue on the life journey that I'm planning. So.
I would recommend not only writing it down once, but repeating it every day. It's not good enough just to write it down and forget it or put it on a sticky note you never look at. If you wake up every day and force yourself to reaffirm by writing, there's something magical that occurs there. I'm not exactly sure what it is. I just know it's magical and for some reason things happen.
Finally, I think it's important to make sure that your commitment is written down in a way that's measurable with language that indicates how it will be obtained and evaluated. You can make this as precise as you want to. But I've noticed that the more commitments that are more specific is to exactly how I'm going to achieve them and keep them up. They basically establish a benchmark that I can measure against and I feel.
Guy Reams (04:41.902)
At 100 days, 200 days, 300 days, I can see significant progress. And that's very motivating. So I think that making sure that when you do make a commitment that it's visible and tangible, but also measurable. So bottom line is, if you want to make a commitment and actually keep it, the first core principle is to physically write it down. Etch it in stone.
or at least in pen, in a journal, and force yourself into keeping a daily journal or a daily reminder of that commitment. Keep it measurable and very specific if you can. And then I would finally say, you want people to know about it. Get it out there. And that is a great way for you to make and keep a transformative commitment in your life. Thank you.