The virtues of public commitment

As you know one of my main objective in 2011 is to get the body of a Greek god by June 1st.

I've had this objective for several years now and for any reasons, good or bad, I always posponed. At one point I read about the concept of public commitment. By which one commits himself publicly to reach an objective. And some people go even farther by promizing that if they don't meet their objective, they'll punish themselves. Some promess to give money to relative as a bet and that kind of stuff. This thought of public commitment has always anoyed me for some reason. And I always thought to myself that "I don't need it... I'm strong enough by myself... I don't need to expose myself... bla bla bla..."

Well chapter 2, after a few years starting and stopping, avoyding, posponning. I came to the conclusion that I am not that good after all and I need to change tactic. The fly tactic does not work here. (The fly tactic consist in beating your head again and again against the window in order to get out of the house. Wishing for a different outcome out of the old same behavior over and over again.)

So enters... public commitment!

At work we have an electronic board on which anyone can post a message or ask a question. So last week I posted there that for June 1st 2010 I will have the body of a Greek god. When I posted it, my heart was beating at 100 miles/h and my hands were wet. Can you imagine that? What a physiological reaction for just a post on a board. And I entend to do the same commitment on my Facebook account. So all my friends and familly will know.

I even went further. I committed that, if I don't get to my objective, I will give 100$ to a charitable association. So if I fail, the pain will not only be public humiliation. It will also affect my wallet.

And to my surprise the reaction has been good so far. I am getting a lot of encouragement. People asking me to join. And some funny comments too like this girl stating "Wohoo! I can't wait to see the after picture! I want to be among the judges. Please!"

So this is to be continued...