We all feel a need to improve our lives. Are we truly committed to our causes?

People always ask me how they can get loads of traffic to their site. Some people ask how to build websites, get ranked in search engines, and other questions about the internet. Other people ask how they can lose a quick 10 pounds because I’m a fitness geek. Others ask me how to put on muscle and gain more overall physical fitness.

I always do my best to answer people’s questions - sometimes I’m blown away by the way people respond. People almost always want a quick fix. Do you?

This article isn’t about fitness, but the interaction with a good friend that brought this principle to my attention was. I’ll outline it for you.

The Classic Reply To Truthful Information

Not too long ago a good friend was asking me about fitness. We started talking about what it takes to lose a little weight; the individual is interested in losing 10-12 pounds. I started talking about the importance of a good diet, which is by far the most important aspect of losing fat. The discussion led into a short Q & A session which will show the importance of being committed to our causes. I didn’t write anything down word for word, but here are the basics of how the conversation went.

Her Q: I work out everyday but I’m not getting anywhere. I just don’t know what to eat. What should I eat?

My A: To lost fat without losing muscle, you should eat a small meal every 3 hours. This will give you 5 or 6 smaller meals each day.

Her: What kinds of things should I eat then?

Me: There are a lot of healthy meals that I’ve found that have less than 300 calories. (I showed her a few soups that I had in the cupboard that had 200 calories and 18 grams of protein. I also showed some other foods that had healthy amounts of protein and less than 300 calories.) There are soups, you can make chicken and rice, chicken and vegetables - I continued to talk about a lot of different meals that fit the criteria.

Her: I can’t eat soup with meat, it grosses me out. I don’t like to cook chicken because it takes too long.

Me: Ok, well what do you usually like to eat?

Her: She named a few things that she liked to eat, all of which were absolute disasters and included insane amounts of the unhealthy kinds of carbs and fats.

Me: Well, we should go to the store so that we can find some healthier meals that you like.

Her: Oh, we don’t need to do that I just wanted to get some tips. What kind of meals do you usually eat?

Me: I went back through the list of foods I eat regularly. This time I added oatmeal, which I usually eat for breakfast.

Her: Well, I can’t eat oatmeal. I just don’t like it. Can I eat frosted flakes instead? (Classic)

Me: I think you better give that one up. The sugar in frosted flakes will really mess you up.

Her: I can’t eat cereal with sugar?

Me: You really shouldn’t, sugar is probably the worst thing you can eat.

We continued to go back and forth and I came to most of the same conclusions after each question. She wasn’t willing to eat most of the healthy foods I recommended, and also wasn’t willing to stop eating most of the unhealthy foods I said she should stop eating. She also wasn’t willing to go to the store to look at alternate healthy foods.

I spent about 30 minutes after the conversation trying to figure out why she was asking in the first place!

Did she think that I was going to tell her that to lose 10 pounds of fat she should eat at least 50 cookies a day? That she could eat all the pizza she desired? In order to reach our goals, we may have to give up some things we really like.

We finished off the conversation when she told me that she was being extra good that day so that she could to eat at Olive Garden that night. That’s where I gave up! (Well, I gave up temporarily because she just wasn’t ready for the commitment right then.)

What Kind Of Goals Are We Trying To Accomplish?

• Finding more financial success?
• Saving more money?
• Controlling our tempers?
• Becoming more productive?
• Finding more meaningful relationships?
• Living a more balanced life?
• Losing weight? Building muscle?
• Getting more traffic?
• Increasing PageRank?
• Locating more customers?
• Adding more value to a business?
• Other goals?

Think about what you want to accomplish the most right here, right now. If you have other goals please feel free to discuss them in the comments!

What Are We Doing To Sabotage The Achievement Of Our Goals?

• Are we unwilling to put in more work to achieve our financial goals? Are we unwilling to admit that we don’t have enough education? Do we desire to waste our time?
• Do we continue to waste money on things that are meaningless? Would we rather buy clothing than save? Would we rather buy toys than save?
• Do we really want think about others? Do we want to see our own side of an argument or do we really want to change?
• Do we want to put down the video game controller in order to work? Do we want to sacrifice a night out on the town to create more value for our potential prospects? Do we really want to spend less time being lazy?
• Do we want to give more to our relationships? Do we want to be conscious enough to be more kind? Do we really want to think of other people before we think of ourselves?
• Do we really want to spend more time with family? Do we want to commit to cleaning our room, doing our laundry more often?
• Are we really willing to give up foods that we love? Are we willing to eat foods that don’t taste as good? Are we willing to exercise even when we’re tired? Do we really want to be conscious of what we’re putting in our mouths?
• Are we willing to think? Are we willing to spend more time writing valuable material?
• Are we willing to continue to comment on blogs, email webmasters, write articles, and submit to directories? Do we really want to put in the time?
• Are we willing to take extra time to answer our customers questions?

Finding Awareness Of Our Faults

Thinking about the subject material for this article has opened up a whole new realm of awareness for me. I figured out that I discard life-changing truths all the time, because I’m not willing to commit. Before thinking about these concepts, I’m not sure that I was willing to commit 100% to growing this business!

I have discovered that in order to achieve the success I desire, I have to find a deeper level of commitment within myself. I have to be willing to sacrifice some things I like.

Do We Seek Answers And Discard Them For Easier Alternatives?

Here are several examples of times when we might have the answers but toss them aside for easier alternatives.

• We learn about what foods are healthy but decide to eat the ones we like anyway.
• We learn that the best way to get traffic to our site is by writing content that is valuable for others, but we don’t want to take the time, or we just get lazy when we should be pounding it out.
• We learn that we need to spend an extra hour on our business each day, but aren’t willing to wake up an hour earlier.
• We learn that we need to save an extra $500 per month but don’t want to stop buying the clothes we want.

Can We Admit That We Impede Our Own Success?

In the process of writing this article, I have had to admit to myself that my lifestyle has impeded my success on quite a few levels. I don’t wake up early enough and I don’t work hard enough. I haven’t given enough to my relationships. I don’t save enough.

Admitting that I need to improve in these areas has awakened a deeper sense of commitment in me. Today I am more committed to my causes than I was yesterday. I believe that this will need to greater success with my goals. I don’t know if I could find that success otherwise.