How to Stay Committed to what you want in life?

Image by ninahale via Flickr

Staying committed is a challenge. It's a test of your courage and your determination to see something through, and when things get tough it seems harder to stick to the path you've chosen.

In the early days, you're buoyed along by the excitement and satisfaction of having made an important decision, and it feels relatively easy to stick at it and give it 120% every day, because you made an obligation to yourself, and maybe to other people, to apply yourself and give of your very best.

Wouldn't it be just great if things stayed that way? Wouldn't life be terrific if everything was plain sailing and nothing got in the way?

You and I both know life's not like that. That weight loss and fitness programme that suddenly seems like too much hard work and you cut sessions for too long. The relationship that over time appears to be less exciting and romantic than before and your attention begins to stray. The real purpose in your life towards which you've set your determined face now seems too difficult to reach.

First of all, remember this. You're not a bad person for letting go of the wheel for a while. You're not a failure. You're simply a human being, with frailties and insecurities and sometimes a faltering sense of self-belief. We are all the same.

These lapses of commitment are of huge importance because they are chances to test your courage and your determination. They're unsettling - they make you examine the reasons for letting go of the wheel and sometimes those reasons aren't easy to hear.

Maybe the time is now right for you to confront your fears of failure - or even success. Fear is simply an illusion and you don't need to be controlled by it. Fear stops you from listening to that quiet voice inside. Let it go.

Are you beginning to doubt the importance of your vision and question the necessity of carrying on? Pay no heed - you know in your heart that these are simply smokescreens and cloud your mind to what you know is right and true.

Are you beginning to doubt your courage? Remember that you never lose it - courage is part of who you are and it never disappears. It is you that hides it from your heart.

Always remember that setbacks and discouragement are part of life. They're as inevitable as the sunrise.

What makes us worthy of their challenge is how we learn from them