There is this principle in management that we refer to as the “commitment principle.” The principle of commitment simply says that if at the beginning of any plan you have not made up your mind to continue with the plan to its successful conclusion, which is, of course, to achieve a goal or objective, then it is really as if you had not made a commitment. plan at all! You may have conceptualized something in your mind and even put it in writing with all the facts and timeline, but if you haven’t really committed to pursuing it from the beginning, then you haven’t really planned it at all. And having no real plan, you won’t notice anything in the near or far future.
Commitment is the real driving force in anything we need to accomplish. Just think about it. You commit to running a 10K marathon. You have everything in you to complete the race. You are in perfect health, you have had a good breakfast to fill you up with energy and a good pair of running shoes. But you don’t have a real commitment to finish the race, so at first you felt your leg muscles tighten, you slowed down and finally gave up the race. You had no real commitment to finish it. In that fable about the race between the tortoise and the hare, it was the hare’s lack of commitment to winning that caused him to rest.
In postwar analysis of the long Vietnam War, many analysts believe that one of the things that ultimately led to American defeat was a lack of commitment to winning the war. The United States had all the firepower it needed to win the war. What was missing was a real commitment caused in part by the ambiguity of the general objective. In contrast, the North Vietnamese and the Vietcong never wavered in their commitment to unify their nation.
If you want to accomplish something in your business plan, then commit. Commitment can come in stages. You can start small. As your level of trust increases, you may have a corresponding increase in your level of commitment in time, effort, money, and other resources. Many successful businesses have grown this way. You can start part-time and as you start to make a profit from the business, your level of confidence and commitment increases until you can get to the point where you can decide to go full time doing it.
Since engagement is basically a subjective state, can you have an internal barometer, something that can give you an indicator of your engagement with a business? I suggest a simple litmus test. If you don’t sponsor your own products or services, then you’re not engaged.
Always refer to the principle of commitment when doing business. Don’t start a business that you know you can’t commit to. But once you’ve made the decision to do the business, commit.