Commitment…

Today was day 151 of my running streak. It’s mostly been reflexive now for a while. I make my daily plans and it’s just assumed that I’m going to run each day, and I’ve gotten into a pretty good routine. First, I take the dog out (usually for at least a mile walk–sometimes a little less, sometimes more), and then, while she eats breakfast, I go run my mile. I tried taking Marty with me on my runs for a week or two, but I realized that her leash manners weren’t really good enough for running yet when I just about face-planted because she ran right in front of me after a butterfly…we’re working on it…

There are some days, though, when running first thing in the morning just doesn’t work out. And there are days, especially when I’m not able to run before I start the rest of my day, that I just don’t feel motivated to run. But I’ve been doing a lot of work on my mindset in the last year or two, reading lots of books and blogs, and one theme I’ve been seeing come up in a lot of different places is the importance of dedication when in pursuit of success. The idea that, if you rely on motivation to get things done, you won’t always get things done, so you need to have self-discipline if you really want to succeed. Motivation is a sneaky little bastard who hangs around when he wants to, and then vanishes for no reason. Now, commitment can be tricky, too, if you’re naturally averse to it. I don’t think I’m a commitment-phobe, but there aren’t a lot of things I would say I’ve really committed to for long periods of time, either. I mean, when I was involved in school activities, sure–I committed. Early morning marching band practice, late night track meets, practice every day–I was there unless I absolutely couldn’t be. When I’ve been in community theatre productions, I’ve committed–rehearsal multiple times a week for almost two months, performances. But again, that’s not a long-term thing. I’ve now been in a relationship with the Bearded One for almost three years (married for more than one), which makes this the longest relationship I’ve had. But it’s not like I was afraid of commitment in other relationships–I just knew they weren’t right, and didn’t want to waste anyone’s time.

There are definitely some things in life that I’ve tackled for a while, but didn’t follow through on, too–that’s been one of my biggest challenges, actually, in my pursuit of work outside of teaching. Before I found the job I have now, I thought maybe I would just find work I could do from home, but I’ve never had the motivation to stick with it–see, there’s that fickle motivation again. But I haven’t really committed to it. Right now I’m working on a proofreading course online to hone my skills so I can start a little side hustle proofreading from home…but I actually started a court transcript proofreading course a little over three years ago, and never finished it…because I never really committed–I let things like meeting my future husband get in the way. But right now, I’m committing to this: I’m going to finish the proofreading course I’m working on by the end of October and be actively trying to find clients by the middle of November. And, if all goes as planned, I’ll start bringing in some proofreading income before the first of the year. I’m committing to this for now because I know I can do it. And part of the reason I know I can do it is because I’ve proven to myself (through my running streak) that I can stick with things.

Caitlin Pyle (the creator of Proofread Anywhere and other helpful courses) said in a blog post, “Self-discipline is that thing that makes you show up every day — even when you don’t feel like it. This part is key. It’s a commitment. It’s a decision. It doesn’t factor in feelings (like motivation) at all.” So I’m going to rely on my self-discipline (and the knowledge that I’ve made this public commitment) to make this happen. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some punctuation to practice…