When you take on a new challenge you need to be mindful of not wavering on your way to achieving your goal.

In my last post “When It All Becomes Too Much to Handle... “, I had talked about reserves of energy that we all abound in. 

The very fact that these reserves may be wrapped in layers of comfort, support, self-preservation and resignation, the comfort of keeping them under the wraps lends itself to many excuses along the way.

The key to success lies in coming out of this comfort zone and exposing oneself to the ‘unknown danger’ that only lurks in one’s mind. One of the techniques of unwrapping reserves is to hold yourself to the promise that is required of you. As long as you are the only one who knows about your resolve, you have a convenient outlet to ‘un-commit yourself’ on the slightest pretext.

What if more people knew about your undertaking? You will acknowledge that ‘abandoning your program’ would not be as easy if that was the case. This is exactly what you must do to keep yourself on course!

Yes, make a commitment to the whole world or more specifically, to the people who matter to you in your life.

Here is the best example from our recent past. In the Summer Olympics of 2008, there was one athlete, Michael Phelps, who had set a personal objective to win 8 gold medals. When the burden of promise of a single Olympic gold medal weighs so heavily on an individual, imagine what Michael Phelps must have felt under the weight of his own commitment.

But, what followed set Michael on a more resolute march towards his target. The intention, that is, Michael’s personal target of 8 gold medals, was released to the whole world through the media and that in a way, must have coaxed Michael Phelps not to waver and keep his promise in the end!

Not only individuals, this technique seems to work well with larger groups, and nations as well. We have one example from recently concluded Winter Olympics of 2010. The host nation, Canada, concluded the games with the most number of Gold Medals in the history of Winter Olympics. Canada had started an ambitious program called "Own The Podium" years before the event, and they had made it known to the whole world. By jove, it did deliver in the end!