Competing Commitments By: Alison Loyd

“The only limits I have are the ones I place on myself.” Danny Cahill wrote those words in his song, “Reach for it”. Those who know me may be thinking, “Alison & limits?  Those two words don’t go together.” And they may be right in many ways.

I had a prenatal stroke, which would limit most people. But now I am doing side planks and star pushups, I’m the most mobile non-driver you’ll ever meet, and I can get to other states and back in a day’s time. I do have limits though.

The weight I still need to lose comes from limits. The feeling of “stuck” I have felt at various times in the last two years has been partially out of my control, but not all of it. Some of it has come from me limiting my own choices.
Who do you honor by committing?

I have had the opportunity in the last several months to look at my commitments, as well as my attitudes toward them. When it comes to honoring commitments, I historically honor commitments to everyone else, and only then do I MAYBE honor the commitments to myself. I’ll help someone with their personal or professional pursuits, and in the process I leave my own hanging – usually by talking on the phone with them when I had originally committed to exercise.

Competing Commitments

Danny has been working with us in his Simply Lose It coaching group on identifying, and then challenging our competing commitments. When we have something we really want (such as losing weight, getting out of debt, growing spiritually, etc.), but other hidden agendas consistently come against it through actions we are doing or not doing, the trend is a competition to our commitment. What we really want gets trumped by our competing commitment. Here’s an example of what it might look like:

I’m committed to losing x pounds in 6 months.

Things I’m doing that keep me from losing the weight:

I justify cheating based on social needs or how well I’m doing, I eat out too much, I drink sweet tea, and I allow one cheat to turn into 2 or 3

Things I’m not doing that keep me from losing the weight:

I am not getting workouts in, I am not eating the meal plan, and I am not staying consistent

Why do I or don’t I take the above actions?
Time management, excuses, losing my resolve, impatience

My competing commitments are:

• I am more committed to excuses and stress management than losing weight.
• I am more committed to eating out and cheating than eating the meal plan and losing weight
• I am more committed to drinking sweet tea than losing weight
• I am more committed to sporadically dodging workouts for various reasons than working out to lose weight

What are you most committed to achieving? What other commitments are competing with that commitment? To achieve what you most want, you have to move it above all of those other commitments, and act on it accordingly. Saying you are MOST COMMITED TO something doesn’t make it happen. If your results are that your competing commitment are winning, then you are truly most committed to your competing commitments. So how do we challenge these competing commitments?

Challenge It!

With all of these Do’s, I can write an “I don’t”, such as I do cheat too much –I don’t stay consistent enough to meet my goal.

After identifying my competing commitments, I need to take action to challenge them. I am shortening my commitment into smaller commitment times, making it easier to chalk up a win.

Struggling with too many cheats in a week, I am shortening my goal time to 3 and a half days from a week. Since I want to challenge credit card debt, I’m committing to not using credit cards for at least a month. Finding something you CAN DO to resist the competition arms yourself for the battle!

Competing with God

As I’ve marinated on this idea of competing commitments, I’ve also seen how it translates in my life spiritually. In the Bible, Jesus says in John 10:10, “The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy – I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly.” Satan has been competing with God from the beginning. Think about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. I read a meme this week that said, “Satan tries to limit your praying because he knows your praying will limit him.” The Name of Jesus will always challenge Satan. Nothing formed against us shall stand. Competing commitments have come, are coming, and will come. So let’s challenge them accordingly to overcome them and, in turn, get what we truly want!

Danny’s song “Reach for it” also says, “Just when I think my limit is found, I will go searching for more fertile ground.” Where will you search for the fertile ground? The Journey Training offered me fertile ground in my class, and a continual fertile ground each month! Participants have the opportunity to evaluate their commitments and break through their limits. Are you ready to find your fertile ground? The first thing you can do to challenge your competing commitments is to sign up for the very next Threshold  class today! It has helped me, and I promise it can help you!

For a free copy of Danny’s song “Reach for it”, email him and ask for it at Danny@TheDannyCahill.com and he’ll send you an MP3!