Success Saturday: What is a Principle, what is an Application?

If you were a professional athlete, commitment would be an important principle to have. As a matter of fact, COMMITMENT is this Saturdays Sucess Principle. We are not all professional athletes. This introduces the difference between a principle and its application. A basketball player would show commitment by daily practicing free throws and layups. A football player may work on agility drills, quick feet and explosive speed. When crossing over different professions it is easy to tell the difference but what about two people on a sales force in the same office. Now it is a little more difficult to distinguish where commitment comes to play. John may have no difficulty cold calling 100 prospects a week. He understands numbers, he has no hesitation talking to strangers, he sees it as just apart of his job to make the calls. Steve, on the other hand, still believes the addage "Don't talk to strangers", he finds himself awkward on the phone, he believes the numbers, believes it is necessary but yet still struggles to make the 100 calls a week. If both were interested in self developement and working on the principle of commitment, John would not use the application of cold calls to determine or improve his level of commitment. Where as Steve may use this task to test and try himself on commitment to his goals. That may sound obvious but more often than not on a sales team in an office there is a driving manager. You all have experienced him. Pushing, pulling trying every technique to get his numbers at a satisfactory level to meet their managers cries. One of the techniques is playing on human emotions. Emphasizing character building traits and good qualities and giving props and prizes to those who show it. So he say's " Ok team, we need to work on commitment. We need to be committed to this company and our cause. The person who gets the most feedback from cold calls this week, aka "The Most Committed Person in the Office! hoorah!" will get invited to the next corporate dinner."
So the contest begins. Sure enough, John has no problem making cold calls, he gets the most feedback, next thing John knows he is labeled "The Most Committed Person in the Office! hoorah!" He attends the corporate dinner and is plauded for his commitment forgetting all about his true desire for self improvement to become more committed and having a hard time convincing himself contrary to what everyone now is saying and thinking of him that he is "The Most Committed Person in the Office! hoorah!" Now in reflective self accountability quiet time at home, he checks off commitment and chooses a new principle to pursue.
So what does all this mean? Take a few minutes and think about it. At what point do we believe we have a certain attribute or hold a principle in our lives. Who are we listening to gain our feedback and growth and are we humble enough to recognize what truth lies in the scenario, what ever it may be, and yet be committed to doing the process right. The process being understanding the principle fully and applying it correctly. This is no bag on corporate companies it was simply the example that came to mind.

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Jeremy