Commitment - Just a Word Without Meaning?

Lately I have been wondering what makes it so hard for people to keep their word.

From my parents I have learned to speak with integrity. It is very important for me to say what I mean and to mean what I say.

My observations in my professional and in my personal life seem to be very different.

I know many busy people and they always say that they have a lot of commitments - places to go, friends to see, errands to run. However, I believe there is a difference between these kinds of commitments and commitment itself, which is an internal process.

Commitment is self-initiated and each of us makes our own commitments. Many times these commitments turn into "should do" activities and then turn into "no shows" or cancellations. Everyone knows that it is important to keep promises to oneself and to others but it simply is so much easier in theory than in real life.

In my opinion a commitment is a promise that we make to ourself or to others. Can it be that this lost its meaning?

Sometimes I feel that people really want to do something but simply can't follow through - life gets in the way so to speak. Other times there are individuals who "try to be" polite but have a tough time being real and saying how they really feel.

Bottom line is that not keeping our word, does not make us look good and certainly does not earn us a very good reputation.

I learned once in a seminar "how you do anything is how you do everything". If you start observing the people around you, you will realize how true this statement is.

Unfortunately I see very few people who hold themselves to rules and agreements so it's almost impossible for them to hold agreements to others if they can't hold them to themselves in the first place. Do you agree?

For the longest time this was very upsetting for me but I have now made peace with the fact that I cannot change people and their behaviours. Whenever I am faced with experiences like that, I do the best to change my perspective. My realization is that I can only lead by example and I hope to inspire the people around me to keep their word.

Testimonials from our workshop on August 19

Heidi and I facilitated another workshop for laidoff employees last week and here are some of the comments we received. I also want to share their contact information with you. In case you have any positions to offer or you know of companies that may be interested, please don't hesitate to request their resumes.

Good Morning Karin & Heidi:

First, I would like to thank you both very much for a very uplifting, informative and well structured presentation last night. It was three hours well invested. I have been to many seminars/workshops and the like, but yours ranks in the top echelon of well organized and enjoyable. I thought it is important for you to receive feedback.

Thanks again for a wonderful workshop, and all the best to you both.

Judy Shapiro
Fundraising Consulting/Special Event Management, Thornhill
Judy.shapiro@rogers.com

The workshop with Karin and Heidi was very interesting. I met different people and found that not only me is looking for a job. I found that many other people with even more work experience and better skills are in the same situation. Karin and Heidi provided us with many ideas and techniques how to overcome fear, stress and encourage ourselves. The most important was that all their ideas and suggestions were based on their own experience. It was excellent workshop with very personal attitude to each participant.

Thanks a lot for your help and for your interesting and encouraging workshop.

Best regards,

Dace Lauva
Purchasing Agent, Richmond Hill
dlauva@gmail.com

Dear Karin,

I would once again like to thank you for the wonderful workshop you held last night. I came away with so much information and great tips how to move a head. I would like to ask you for a copy of your goal sheet? Also can you send me the name of the person who wrote the quote on your last slide I want to putit on my wall so I read it every day.

Thanks again,

Christine Schaefer
Marketing Graphic Design Specialist, Richmond Hill
(corporate design, packaging design, promo material)
c.schaefer@sympatico.ca

Dear Karin,

When you are searching for your next job sometimes it can be hard to see the forest for the trees and you can easily feel lost and confused. I wanted to personally thank both you and Heidi for offering your time to present the free workshop “ Layoff During Difficult Times – The End or a New Beginning” to help keep me on the right path to success. Your workshop was extremely candid, inspiring and is helping to guide me down new directions I never saw before. Your passion is evident in what you do which makes all the difference and I wish you both continued success.

Thanks again,

Shawna Yorke
Environmental Department Assistant, Aurora
syorke8@gmail.com

Hi Karin,

I wanted to thank you for the insightful presentation you and Heidi gave last night.
I learned that there can be a positive side to everything and that good things can happen if one applies themselves to it.

You mentioned something about having additional resource information if we send you an email to you requesting it. I would be pleased if you can forward to me that information.

Also, can you tell me more about the "Toastmaster Organization"?

Regards,

Daniel McDonnell
Business Systems Analyst, Aurora
dmac773@gmail.com


Heidi and I find this work very rewarding and we know that we make a difference. Unfortunately some people make it very hard for us to promote this FREE workshop. Shouldn't it be in everybody's interest to assist people in finding a job and help them to build up their self esteem?

Do you know the the Starfish Story? If not, take the time to watch it because that's how we feel!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GunVwl6K4M

What do you do to make a difference?


Our next workshop will be on September 23, 2009 - please forward to people who may be interested!

Fearless Living - The Secret to Overcome Your Personal Obstacles

We respond to your need to better cope with stress, fear and changing times!

If you are interested in attending or to answer any questions you may have, please contact David or myself!

The Shame of Blame in the Business Game

Have you ever wondered why some companies succeed while others fail?

How important is it to succeed anyway? Isn't it easy enough to shift the blame, change the rules, redirect the focus of your critics, spin the media, and redefine success........?
Didn't we have enough recent examples in the corporate world?

At the moment I have the feeling that many organizations and their people are committed to the blaming game - organizations blame their own failure of leadership on the recession, managers blame low performance on their employees, and employees blame their job dissatisfaction on management.

"Love it, change it, or leave it.........!"

When will people start to realize that it is time to take a criticial look at yourself first instead of pointing the finger at someone else? Don't forget, whenever you point a finger at another person, three fingers point right back at you.

At the moment I see many blamestorming sessions going on..... You know these are these special meetings where people are gathered together to discuss why a project failed and why a deadline was missed, and whose fault it was.
This is certainly a very effective way to waste time and focus all the attention and energy on problems instead of solutions.

It is human nature to avoid admitting a mistake and that's why I thought you may enjoy the following story:

Once upone a time there were four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure Sombody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got really angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

Can you see the truth in that?