Day 290 - Commitments Require Habits

July 25, 2024

Key Points: Commitments and Habits: Guy explores the relationship between commitments and habits, arguing that one requires the other for success. Youthful Ambitions: Guy shares his past struggles with making and keeping commitments, often setting ambitious goals without the necessary habits to support them. The Importance of Skin in the Game: Guy emphasizes the need for personal investment in a commitment, highlighting the difference between wishful thinking and genuine dedication. Habit as a Catalyst: Guy explains how habits act as a driving force to keep commitments on track. Consistency is Key: Guy stresses the importance of daily or regular actions to reinforce commitments. Examples of Habits: Guy provides examples of how habits can support different types of commitments, such as running for a marathon or becoming a writer. Call to Action: Evaluate current commitments and identify the necessary supporting habits. Develop a habit-building plan to increase the likelihood of achieving goals. Understand that consistency is more important than perfection. Target Audience: Individuals seeking to improve their goal-setting and achievement. People struggling with maintaining commitments.

Episode Transcript

Guy Reams (00:08.034)
This is day 290, commitments require habits. For 10 days, I'm cataloging the top principles that have become part of my life over the years. This has become increasingly more difficult as I think this through. I did this originally as a simple exercise because I was traveling. Now I'm realizing that this was a mistake. What started out as a simple is now an exercise in contemplation that I was not prepared for. The seventh principle is one that I learned later in life. is this, principle

Commitment requires at least one habit to be effective. This seems obvious to me now, but this simple idea evaded me for years growing up. I created many marvelous commitments in my younger days, fueled by significant ambition. I would set out to achieve the impossible just to fail a few days later. I would create a long list of things I needed to do, but find that this list stuffed in a drawer, uncompleted many years later. My commitments were great.

but they were feckless and weak. I had no skin in the game, as the phrase goes. So how does a commitment become real? How does a commitment transition from a hope to something that sticks with you? Quite simply, a commitment needs a habit that forces you to keep on the path. A serious commitment needs more than one. You are not serious about keeping a commitment unless it is intertwined with one or more habits. That is it. This principle is quite simple and requires little explanation.

A commitment requires a habit that ties you to a daily regiment of dedicated effort. If you are committed to being a marathon runner, then your habit needs to be to run almost every day. If you're committed to becoming a rider, then you must write every day. Every commitment will always have a core commitment that you cannot avoid. Keep commitments by keeping the required habit that goes along with