This is a picture of her a couple of years ago doing single right-legged squats…
…On a step…
…At 5:30 in the morning
…6 weeks after full right knee replacement

Yep, that’s right, she’s doing SINGLE LEG PISTOL SQUATS ON A STEP SIX WEEKS AFTER A FULL KNEE REPLACEMENT.

There is no question as to her commitment. This lady isn’t just tough; she’s pretty darn close to super-human. She is bound and determined to get onto her snowboard this winter, and NOTHING is going to stop her, especially not a measly little knee surgery.

Watching her do this the that morning reminded me of a conversation that I had with one of my coaching clients a few months ago, who was having a hard time in his business. He actually has a really good business and will do really well for a period of time, but then for some reason, each time he gets the business to a certain point, he plateaus and begins to falter to the point of uttering the dreaded words to me:
“Maybe I should just go get a job”

Now anyone who knows me, knows that those words may as well be fighting words to me. I believe that entrepreneurship is one of the last bastions of freedom left in this world, and the thought of someone giving up on their dreams because they can’t break through a simple mental block is sometimes too much for me to handle.
Here’s what I asked him: “John (not his real name), what is it going to take you to stop farting around with this business and finally COMMIT to it?” (Except I didn’t say farting…)

His response was understandably defensive: “What do you mean, ‘when am I going to commit?’ I’ve been in this business for 8 years! I’ve poured everything thing I have into this business!” I told him that I knew that he had worked hard, and that I wasn’t questioning his work ethic….I was questioning his COMMITMENT.

What I was asking him was, if he was willing to go ALL IN on his business, wanted to know if he was a VIKING?

The Vikings were of course known to be fearless and ruthless warriors (This fact makes me proud as my family tells me that I am AT LEAST 1/16th VIKING). Once they landed on an enemy’s land, a common practice was for the leader to have the crew literally BURN THE BOAT on the enemy’s shore. Then they went into battle with the image of their burning boat at their back.

Were they crazy?! Why did the Vikings do that?

There seems to be three major reasons: First, it was to strike fear and panic in the hearts of their opponent. Man has always had this love/fear of fire. The awesome sight of a burning ship on the beach could probably be seen for miles, certainly emphasizing the point, “We are here!”

Second, the burning ship was a strong signal to the enemy that the Vikings were serious and committed. Given that they had destroyed their only way home, the enemy must have taken that as a sure sign that this was going to be an extremely tough battle…and the Vikings were ready.

Third, it was a signal to the Vikings themselves. The burning of their ship clearly made the point that the only possible way home was to win the battle. It reinforced their own level of commitment.

What the burning of the ship did was crystalize the moment and force the Vikings to leap into the unknown. They could not timidly step into the unknown; they were violently thrusted into the abyss.

So how does this apply to John? John was working in his business. He was TRYING to do well, but he seemed to always be hedging his bet, by believing that if his business didn’t work out, that he could simply quit it all and go get a job. He wasn’t REALLY all in….He had an escape route that allowed him to create excuses for not creating a sustainable, thriving business!

So how can John (and you) apply the lessons of the Vikings to his business? How can he “BURN THE BOATS” and go ALL IN on his business? How can you? Here are some ways you can go deeper with your commitment:

Eliminate Plan B – The only reason to even have a plan B is because a part of you believes that Plan A isn’t going to work. The moment you doubt that your plan is going to work, then you’ve already failed. Here’s the deal, no matter what happens, YOU HAVE THE SKILLS to deal with your situation. You always have. You’ve always survived.

Don’t Just Try…DO! – In The Empire Strikes Back film of Star Wars’ fame, there is a conversation between Luke Skywalker and Yoda, when Yoda is asking Luke to levitate his X-Wing Fighter with only his mind, that goes something like this:
Luke: “Master, moving stones around is one thing. This is totally different.”
Yoda: “No. No different. Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned.”
Luke: “All right, I’ll give it a try.
Yoda: “No. Try not. Do… or do not. There is no try.”

What Yoda is saying to Luke is that TRYING doesn’t accomplish anything. Luke must DECIDE that he can move the X-Wing fighter and get about the task or quit. There is no room for an in-between solution. Learning to use the Force is a mental game, so your state of mind is what matters most.

Start with Small Commitments – Too often an entrepreneur sets goals that are simply too big, or too far out in the future to be meaningful. There are too many steps and milestones on the way to the final goal for them to be able to see the clear path to success. The same is true with commitments. So, instead of making a commitment like, “I will do this business for the rest of my life,” start with something more like, “I will not look at the classified ads for the next 12 months.” Once you start committing to easier goals, then making the larger commitment doesn’t seem as difficult.

Kill FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) – In order to truly commit to something, you must eliminate any worry that you will be missing out on something else. Stop wondering what else might be out there. BE PRESENT with where you are RIGHT NOW. Live in the moment RIGHT NOW. Be confident that the decision that you’ve made is the right decision…and get to work.

At the end of the day, commitment is simply a FIRM DECISION to pursue a particular path – path where excuses and hedging your bet are not welcome.

Now, let me see if I can go do some one-legged pistol squats like my bad ass wife…