Written by: Vickie Sullivan | January 21, 2016
How Committed Are You?
Last week, I wrote about Terry Barber’s journey from thought leader on paper to thought leadership in action. He had a big vision, and the launch of his solution is beyond expectations. When I delved into the backstory, I was struck by how much he sacrificed. Then I thought about all the people I see out there who are talking big but just spinning their wheels and not getting the results.
Those people suffer from what I call “comfortable commitment.” In other words, they only sacrifice to the edge of their comfort zone. The problem is you have to go beyond that point to make your big plans happen.
What comfortable commitment looks like: play-big visions with play-small implementation. People either bootstrap with the wrong strategy or throw too much money at magic wands that never work. Either way, it’s the unwillingness to give what you have little of that trips you up each and every time.
Related: The Strategic Impact of Clarity
It’s easy to fool yourself here. You look at all the work and worry you put into your vision and your purpose, and you say, “Heck yeah, I’m committed.” But be brutally honest and ask yourself this: do you devote what you have plenty of? It’s easy to devote time when you have an empty calendar, to have energy after drinking plenty of coffee, or to contribute money if you have a nest egg. But that’s rarely enough. You have to put enough skin in the game that it hurts to lose. That’s true “commitment.”
Investors, potential clients, and the marketplace in general need to know how serious you are. And that seriousness is defined by what you have sacrificed. Playing small will never turn vision into reality.
Other Resources You Might Like: