In the grand scheme of life, everyone's commitment to their health, business, and personal lives falls somewhere on a scale from 0 to 100. This commitment level varies greatly from person to person, and it's not always a reflection of their dedication or work ethic. Instead, it's often a reflection of their unique circumstances and motivations. This article will delve into the concept of commitment, the definition of elite performance, and how to harness the power of attitude to become an elite performer in your own right.
Consider the business world. A person with a low level of commitment might be a secondary income earner in their household, with a spouse who earns a substantial income and school-age children who need care after school. This person may not be available for late meetings or weekend work, and their commitment to their business might be perceived as low.
On the other hand, a person with a high level of commitment might be a single income earner with high overheads, such as mortgage payments, health insurance, and college tuition for their children. This person might work long hours, including weekends, to meet their financial obligations.
It's easy to judge the high commitment person as good and the low commitment person as bad. However, it's important to remember that neither is inherently good or bad. Each person's commitment level is determined by their unique circumstances and motivations.
Elite performance isn't about having a high or low level of commitment. Instead, it's about doing what you said you would do and achieving reasonable results for your efforts. By this definition, both the high commitment and low commitment individuals can be considered elite performers, as long as they meet their own goals and commitments.
This perspective challenges the traditional American management myth of evaluation by ranking. Ranking only shows that one person did more than another, but it doesn't take into account motivational levels, commitment levels, or personal circumstances.
According to behavioral researchers, the major difference between elite performers and everyone else is attitude. This might seem like an oversimplification, but consider this: if you were to lose all of your possessions, would you believe that you could get them all back over time? If your answer is yes, that's a reflection of your attitude.
Your attitude determines the results in your life. This is backed by science: every thought we have is an electrical impulse that releases chemicals. These chemicals have a charge, and we attract to ourselves what our dominating thoughts are. This can be a blessing or a curse, depending on what those dominating thoughts are.
The good news is that we can change our attitudes. If we can figure out what the attitudes of elite performers are, we can adopt those attitudes and enjoy elite performance ourselves. This requires making a decision to change, which is often triggered by a significant event in our lives.
The elite performance attitude involves recognizing your limitations and understanding that you can't do everything by yourself. Elite performers understand that they're better off as part of a team and that they need to compensate for their limitations. They also understand that they will resist doing activities that they don't feel comfortable doing and that they will resist, fear, and avoid change.
Elite performers compensate for their human resistances by presetting outcomes, planning their time and activities for the next seven days, and asking someone else to hold them accountable for their actions. They also place a consequence on themselves if they don't take the actions they promised they would.
Try this approach this week. Commit one specific action to another person and put a consequence on it if you don't complete the activity. By doing so, you'll be using the elite performance formula and taking a step towards becoming an elite performer yourself.
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