I wish, I want, I commit. How do you start a goal statement?  Do you wish it will happen, want it to happen or commit to making it happen?

The language that you use and the feeling associated with that what you say has a big impact on your ability to reach your goals.

Take for example, if you wish that you could make $100,000 in a year chances are you won’t because you are only wishing for it to happen and there isn’t much effort behind wishing.  In essence, all it takes is sitting there and hoping that the money will fall from the sky into your lap.  Even though we learned that wishing makes dreams come true, I’m here to tell you it only happens in fairy tales.

Wanting is a bit better.  When you want something, like wanting to make a $100,000 in a year, you are willing to put a bit more effort in achieving it than the person who is still sitting around and wishing for the money.  But wanting still lacks something critical.  It lacks that powerful energy that moves us from wanting to really making it happen.  It lacks YOUR commitment.

Saying, “I commit to making $100,000 in a year means that you are taking your responsibility in achieving this goal seriously.  Think of it this way…when you make a commitment to your children to take them to the zoo you know that if you don’t you will really be letting them down.  You know that you have made a promise to them and that your integrity is on the line if you don’t follow through.  The same thinking applies to achieving your goals.

Now alot of self help guru’s will tell you that you must keep your commitment and I agree, but we all know that for some reason or the other often times we break our commitments.  Usually it’s because we don’t have the personal resources to ensure we maintain integrity in our commitments.  Does this sound familiar?

Here are a couple of tips to help you maintain those commitments so that you CAN reach your goals:

1.  Don’t Rationalize – When you break your next commitment (and I hope that you don’t) don’t rationalize your behavior.  In essence, rationalizing is acceptance of what you know in your heart and soul to be wrong.  Every time that you rationalize, and therefore justify your behavior it makes it less likely that you will keep your commitments in the future.  With every rationalization you lower your standard of an acceptable life and make it harder and harder to keep commitment in the future.

Instead, acknowledge that you didn’t keep the commitment, think of ways that you can ensure you don’t break your commitment in the future.  Figure out why you broke the commitment in the first place and learn from this experience.

2.  Come Up With a Plan – Figuring out why you break your commitments is a very important step in gaining the resources that you need to keep them in the future.   Brainstorm all the reasons why you failed in keeping your commitment and then develop a new strategy so that you don’t repeat the mistake.  This helps to give you a plan for your future and increases your chance of success.

3.  Try Again – Now that you have rid yourself of rationalization and have a plan on how to not fail at your commitments in the future, it’s time to try again.  You have new tools at your disposal and you can keep your commitments as you retrain your brain into moving closer and closer to your goal.

Use the “commit” language when developing your goals and commit to keeping your commitments and you will see a vastly different business a year from now.

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