"Meet you at the other end of the zip line!" I spoke these words in the group to motivate myself to successfully tackle the high ropes course. And it worked! I'd made a public commitment to complete the task ahead. It's important to me to do what I say I will do. Though I didn't know precisely what was ahead, the goal was clear: complete the ropes course and zip to success across the stream.
The confidence in my words masked the nervousness that I felt, and many others voiced. It changed the group dynamics. The comments of other first-timers prior to my turn to share my thoughts before we began had mostly expressed fear, uncertainty and tentative commitments to try.
Not only did I conquer the ropes course. Another benefit of my declaration of expected success was the impact on a macho colleague. It motivated him to overcome
his fear of heights and also zip to success.
There's more at risk when we publicly declare our intentions, but there's also increased probability of success. We're suddenly accountable to others. When we silently commit to try to achieve a goal and obstacles arise, we can make excuses and quietly accept failure. The stakes rise when we've shared the goal with others. We want to succeed for ourselves and to honor the commitment we've made to them. And, if it spurs a little healthy competition more winners will emerge.
Meet you at the other end of the zip line!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment