MOTIVATION VS COMMITMENT​

Motivation vs Commitment

Have you ever wanted to make a habit change and failed? You had the inspiration, the motivation, and the action plan. You bought all the equipment, you got that membership at the gym, you threw away the temptations, but you went back to the same habit. Why does this happen so regularly and how can we break out of it?

This past weekend I traveled down to Orlando, Florida to spend the weekend with some of the brightest minds in the industry. I had the opportunity to spend time with my mentor, NY Times Bestselling author and co-founder of Maximized Living, Dr. Ben Lerner. I also spent several days with Dr. Charles Majors, who many of you know as the author of Cancer Killer’s as he beat cancer naturally with no chemotherapy or radiation: multiple myeloma, plasmacytoma and 3 tumors that metastasized to his brain and given 3 weeks to live. Just between these two doctors, there was a lifetime of insight and wisdom that could only be obtained through their unique experiences. But my biggest take-away from camp was not something they said over our lunches or dinners or our conversations that lasted until midnight, my biggest take away was from a 65-year-old lady named Suzanne.

Suzanne had been a practicing chiropractor for 30+ years and she had heard about the miracles and objective results that Maximized Living doctors were achieving with their patients. She was so impressed that she decided to leave her pain-based model of practice and start the process of transforming it into a Maximized Living office. Suzanne shows up to camp and Dr. Lerner asked her, “are you excited to be here?” She says, “Well, I’m nervous. I heard there was a lot of exercise and I’ve never run before.” Dr. Ben, seeing a 65-year-old doctor in front of him responded with “What do you mean you’ve never ran before? Not in 65 years? No PE in school, nothing?” She says, “No, I was always told by my parents that ladies don’t do things like that, so I’ve never ran”. Dr. Ben, sensing her concern but also seeing the opportunity responded by saying, “Suzanne, all I can say is this: give it 100% this weekend and then go 10% more”.

She was so motivated by this that she decided she would try and run. She tried to run on Thursday night but failed. She tried again at all three workouts on Friday and failed all three times. Late Friday night It was revealed that she had been in an abusive relationship for the past 30 years—30 years of physical abuse by her husband. Broken and feeling like a huge weight was lifted off by telling her story, she committed herself to not only confronting her husband when she got home but also to start running. That Saturday, Suzanne ran for 10 miles continuously without stopping. That may sound great, but the best part of the story is not that she ran for the first time in 65 years. On Sunday morning she went home and kicked her abusive husband out of the house.

Dr. Ben’s words may have given her motivation and inspiration, but MOTIVATION is temporary and eventually fades when everything gets hard. The real change happened when she COMITTED to changing her life. She drew a line in the sand, crossed over it and decided she’d never be the same. When you are committed to change, there is nothing that can stop you: no diagnosis, no label, no circumstances can stand in the way of a committed person. What is it you want to change about your life? What is it that you MUST commit yourself to doing in order to change today to change? Draw a line in the sand today and make the decision to never look back.

 

Together for Transformation,

Dr. Wilson