Naturally, I'm a laissez-faire kind of guy as my somewhat happy-go-lucky attitude takes over a lot of my deeds. As simple as this may sound, the results I've had due to my way of doing things ranges from terrible to ridiculously good. The reason for the wide swing in results is basically dependent on whatever commitment I choose to shower upon any project, despite the easy pace at which I take things.
Commitment looks easy in the eye, it is grossly underrated. In fact, it sounds ambiguous to think people naturally expect commitment to show up in whatever they do or decide to do. Unfortunately, commitment is just like action; it doesn't just show up. You have to bring it with you else you'd be staring at below average to above average results on your projects, depending on how intelligent or not you are.
Commitment leads to deliberate and well planned action, not a scattered approach to things. I witnessed this first hand when I worked as a staff in a state funded football academy. When the governor was sworn in he stated categorically that he wasn't interested in the idea of a football academy for the state because the state doesn't have enough funds to sponsor the male team in NPFL, the female team in the Women's League and then the academy team in the Amateur's League.
After persuasion from all angles, he budged and allowed the academy to remain and compete in the league. Each day in training, I watched young adults train from 10am to 12pm in tough conditions on a plastic turf. Sometimes, the pitch will be so hot that their boots melt. Despite this, some players' commitment never wavered. And for some others, probably because they were forced upon the team by a high ranking government official (one of the banes of a government sponsored sports team), they only showed up whenever they wished to, not whenever they had to.
After a year, five of the academy players were promoted to the first team. It was a big leap for them jumping from the Amateur's League to the Premier League. Unsurprisingly, only one player survived the first team. The remaining four were loaned back to us, the amateur team, after just half a season. The one that survived was the least talented but the most committed. He showed up every single day and won over the first team coaches.
Why am I talking about my time in this job? Because it's the one job where I showed the least commitment, ever. Yes, I've always loved sports since I was little. I played football a lot and would've towed the sports lane if things were as easy back then as it is now. Also, over 60% of my posts here have been about sports. So, why did I show little to no commitment when working for a sporting institution?
Firstly, I never wanted the job. I accepted it because I just got out of a job and didn't want to wait around. The job sector here is supersaturated so a bird in hand is way better than thousands in the bush. And when I resumed, I wasn't too impressed with my colleague's profile. None of them was at my educational standard. Was I expecting a masters degree holder to be coaching an amateur football club? Silly me.
In fact, I was by far the most educated and that played into my head. Despite being the one in charge of every needed material for training, I was always late to work. My assistants would've done the job before I came. But then, I wasn't up for the sack because I got the job through a highly placed person in the system (simply put, I was part of the rot). I was untouchable.
Till today, doing that job that way for three years before Covid ended the team in 2020 remains one of my professional regrets. In that time frame I worked with two head coaches with different football ideologies but never picked a single thing from them. I could've learnt a lot from there, proceeded to the National Sports Academy and tried my hands on getting a coaching badge. Instead, I fumbled that chance due to lack of commitment.
Given that opportunity again, I would do better. But I know that's not coming back. That ship already sailed.
Commitment is showing up at all times, either you feel like it or not. It is deliberate!
