This document is a transcript of a speech about commitment. It discusses commitment as being frightening but containing the secret to success. It provides tools to measure a person's level of commitment by looking at what they are willing to risk and sacrifice, the size of actions they take, and what motivates their desire. True commitment requires a genuine understanding and love of a worthy goal, which inspires serving that goal through action despite obstacles. A truly committed person will see opportunities and success through their commitment.

1. THOUGHTS ON COMMITMENT
The following is the transcript of a brief speech I gave
recently to a Men's Business Convention/Retreat. Please
don't mistake my gender specific wording to mean this
doesn't work just as well for women.
~introduction by Chairman, opening remarks~
Thank you for inviting me Mr. Chairman. I'll try to keep
this brief. Usually, a speaker will use tricks like
picturing his audience in their underwear. I hope you'll
understand if I'm really not going to do that today.
If it helps, you guys can picture me in MY underwear, but I
don't recommend that either.
Perhaps the most frightening word in the English language,
commitment also contains the secret to limitless success.
Commitment is the goal of all feeling humans and the reward
of a faithful heart. But Commitment also eliminates all
other options; some perceive it as the audible click-snap
of a cell door closing.
The hidden secret inside commitment is that it imbues a man
with confidence, strength, an indomitable will and the
courage of his convictions. A man who has irrevocably
committed himself to attaining a worthy goal or ideal will
discover that previously insurmountable obstacles are
crumbling in front of him. A man who allows NO other option
to himself but success, will see the world bend a knee and
mold itself to his will.
This man really need not be all that special, either. He
need not be smarter or better looking or more suave than
the next man. He needs only to posses the highest possible
degree of desire.
Desire is the key to the door through which commitment is
obtained. The door itself is action, and that door is the
acid test for the strength of the key. A weak key (a small
desire) will crumble in the lock on the door. Indeed, a
poorly formed key will rust the very hinges of the door it
seeks to open.
But even using a strong key of desire and swinging wide the
door of action does not guarantee a man will acquire the

2. magic of commitment. True, unflinching, unreasonable, all-
or-nothing commitment is an elusive animal and very hard to
find. Were this not so, all men would marry the woman of
their dreams, retire early, create great wealth and lasting
estate, laugh often and enjoy life long unconditional love.
These are thing all of us yearn for, yet few of us attain.
Even though the means to do so resides in every one of us.
So how do you measure the level of a man’s commitment? How
can you tell if he is genuinely committed to his cause or
merely indulging a whim?
First, we can apply the universal law of Risk vs. Reward.
As old and immutable as Cause and Effect, as hard and fast
as action begetting equal and opposite reaction; this law
states that there can be no reward which comes without an
equal degree of risk.
Not all men will see a reward in the same light, either.
What is valuable beyond price to one man might appear as
rubbish to another. One man’s meat is another man’s poison.
So, we can look at what a man is personally willing to risk
to measure how great he perceives the reward.
Next we look at Sacrifice. A man is given only a finite
number of hours in his life, and much can be determined by
watching how he spends them. The universe uses what we call
the Law of Parity: Nothing comes at no cost. So we can ask
what part of this man’s life – how great an investment of
his allotted time – is he willing to sacrifice on the alter
of attaining his goals and aspirations?
Once we have measured – against the man himself – the
amount of the risk and sacrifice he is willing to endure,
we can then look at the size of the door he will access the
commitment through. How much personal action is this man
taking?
A truly committed man will make bold moves, daring the
world to even slow him down. He will be scorned for his
audacity, because audacious behavior is shunned and
belittled by lesser men. You know them: Small-minded men
who fear the unknown so greatly, they view any action taken
outside their own limited experience to be tantamount to
suicide. Just ask Christopher Columbus, Copernicus or any
of the great Renaissance thinkers. Some of them were

3. killed, just for speaking the truth.
We can then seek to determine what created the man's
desire/key in the first place. What were his motivations?
The list of possible motivating factors is as long as the
whole of human history. For brevity's sake, we will only
discuss the two major factors. This will help us determine
the scope and validity of the man's commitment.
First let's tackle fear: Fear has many faces, but fear of
loss – the Great Inhibitor – is by far the most common.
Those timid souls I mentioned earlier? They live in a
constant state fear, never learning the value of risk.
Don’t judge them too harshly though; we have been like that
at one time or another. Until that is, we found a goal so
compelling that nothing else mattered.
But does fear create more than just desire and action?
Unfortunately, no. It usually motivates a man just enough
to alleviate an immediate situation, but it rarely creates
the impetus necessary to qualify as genuine commitment.
Then there is love. Love, unfortunately, is easily the most
overused, misused word on the planet. But still, love is
unquestionably the greatest single motivating force
available. “For God so loved the world, He gave his only
begotten Son...” Love can indeed move mountains.
However, for a man to truly love something (or someone), he
must fully understand it. Hate is the same way. You should
only hate with a clear conscience.
Love, though... Love which is pure, genuine and all
consuming; love which will fire the key of desire to the
hardness of tempered steel? That love comes only through a
great depth of understanding.
Please note that I said “understanding,” not “knowledge.” A
man can know something intimately and still not understand
it. Nor does understanding necessarily guarantee knowledge.
A man can completely understand a mathematical theory, and
still not get the right answer to a math problem.
So, we can now see that genuine love requires a real
understanding as to the intrinsic nature of that which is
loved. Without that understanding, “love” might be little
more than a misinterpretation of the chemical stimulus

4. created by the biological imperative of procreation.
In other words, lust. Lust in the absence of passionate
emotion, is as hollow and devoted of meaning as the embrace
of a prostitute. Love is in the soul.
There is another great measure of genuine love: Love seeks
to serve, in whatever capacity is most necessary, the
deepest needs of that which is loved. Lust on the other
hand, while it can be mistaken for love, will lack the
“understanding” factor. Lust primarily seeks to fill its
own needs, hoping (perhaps) that the object of desire,
also, somehow, has its needs filled too.
So we can see that lust, for all its transparent appeal,
can never create commitment. Ultimately, lust itself will
never be fulfilling.
We now have all the tools necessary to measure the depth,
breadth, quality and quantity of a man’s commitment. Now we
can judge this man.
Does this man have a firm grasp on the true nature of his
goal? Does his understanding truly inspire him to love this
goal – to the point that he will serve its needs in the
most appropriate and creative ways he can? How great a risk
will this man take in order to obtain his reward? What part
of his life – his self – will he sacrifice in order to
attain his goal? Is his desire for this goal so strong, so
well fired in the kiln of his love, that it will open the
door of whatever action, no matter how seemingly outrageous
or condemned by men of meager minds and wills, to create
within himself the paradigm called “commitment?”
If a Worthy man discovers for himself a worthy goal or
ideal, then meets all the requirements we’ve discussed;
fundamental changes will occur. If any man commits his
whole will, soul and being to the attainment of his goal,
everything will work to his advantage. Paths will be
cleared before him as if by divine intervention.
Opportunities will present themselves to him that other men
would be blinded to. Even apparent set backs will work to
his favor.
Do you know such a man? Do you perhaps understand him
better now? Can you perceive all the benefits connected
with associating with such a man? Becoming, such a man?

5. The enthusiastic nature of a man like that is infectious.
If his love for his goal is genuine, if the goal is worthy
(I assure you a man of this caliber will not love that
which is unworthy), everyone within his sphere of
influence, who can grasp the concept, will catch his
enthusiasm. The effects of his newly found charisma will
multiply exponentially. Success, as you all know, breeds
success.
The list of men who have obtained this level of commitment
in their lives is long and distinguished. Names like Thomas
Edison, Albert Einstein, Gandhi, George Washington, Jacques
Cousteau… But that seemingly endless list also contains
millions of names that will go unrecorded. The names of
simple everyday men, whose goals may not be as lofty, but
which are certainly as worthy.
~named a few of the managers and executives in the
audience~
When you discover the secret of commitment for yourself,
you will change your world forever.
~questions and discussion~
~End transcript