“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets: Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!” - William Hutchison Murray
I've found this to be true for every single assignment & project I've ever bothered to actually commit to. For most of my life, I struggled with undiagnosed ADHD & had a really hard time buckling down on anything in particular...tons of dabbling, not much in the way of actual focus or goals, however. As I got older & developed a strong personal productivity system, one based on commitment rather than motivation, I've seen this principle of commitment magically opening doors happen in every single instance. When I got married a decade or two ago, I literally didn't know how to boil water (which my wife still roasts me about to this day, lol), and now I meal-prep 7 meals & snacks a day using a home combi oven as my primary cooking machine, and am honored to have the title of Kitchen Overload on ATOT lol.
Part of it is the Wayne Gretzky quote, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take". So you have to start, you have to put in sustained effort, you have to power through setbacks, you have to be persistent until success is achieved, but all of stuff begins with commitment to doing something in particular. Making a commitment & then putting in the consistent effort to chase after it little by little is like opening the door to a waterfall of opportunity. It's not like "The Secret" where you just clearly-define what you want & then the universe gives it to you, because we live in a world of action & consequence, which requires consistent effort to get results in, but that key commitment portion is where the initial beauty lies. I can't full explain it; I can only say, in all seriousness, that every time I've committed to something specific & then been persistent in my efforts towards it over time, magical things have happened...I'll run into the right people, the right youtube video, the right article online, the right book, or some kind of other resource that magically comes out of the fog to greatly assist me on my journey, something that wasn't evident or available or readily apparent before.
So I am a VERY big proponent of living a life based on commitment. Not dabbling, not passive interest, not nice ideas & good intentions, not of requiring motivation to get to work, but of commitment to very specific things & then watching, as the effort is put in day by day, all sorts of stuff happen as if by magic to aid you in your journey. If that sounds a little nuts, give it a try over time & report back with your results! The world is full of good ideas, but lacks execution. Commitment is the precursor to action, which leads to getting stuff done & enjoying the ride along the way. I feel like I would have enjoyed life a lot more growing up had I understand the principle of how commitment opens up doors to you that previously didn't exist, because I definitely would have taken advantage of it back then had I known!
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