I'm Sticking To My Commitments

In my last blog post, I wrote about focusing on three priorities - coding, triathlon and school, after eliminating marketing from the list. On the same day, I was presented with a conundrum. After seeing how I worked for Leanconf, one of the Leanconf organisers offered me a paid social media role for his upcoming online conference.

The role ties in well with what I have been doing for Leanconf. It was very tempting to accept the job as I believe that I can learn more about social media marketing. Furthermore, it is the first time I was offered a paid job because of what I have been doing. However, I just wrote about eliminating marketing from my priorities. Taking up this job will be going against my commitments.

Experience and money or sticking to my words?

In the end, I rejected the offer. (Manuel, if you are reading this, I'm very thankful for the opportunity.) It was not an easy decision to make then so I want to document the rationale of my decision and the lesson that I have learnt.

Why did I make that decision?

Commitment : The main reason is to force myself to stick to my commitments because I'm tired of chasing after everything and ending up with nothing. I have made many goals and resolutions in the past, especially over the last year. However, I have not been able to stick to them and have always been chasing after new things (ie. shiny object syndrome). The end result? Embarrassing progress (read: attempts) in so many things; none that I would want to talk about when someone asks me what do I do. Hence, I made this decision as a commitment to my priorities.
Choice : If I were to accept the offer, I am unlikely to let it affect my studies or triathlon. So learning to code will be the commitment that suffers. Making the decision to give up a paid social media role and to focus on learning to code is simply a matter of choice. I want to be an entrepreneur who can at least build a basic prototype or product and sell it well. For now, I prioritise learning to code over marketing, so I rejected the offer. (See my previous blog post for my reasons.)
Focus : This decision will not automatically make me better in the areas of my three priorities. However, it will allow me to focus on them without distractions, thereby increasing the likelihood of improvements.

What have I learnt?

I have learnt that blogging about my promises makes me accountable for them. I've tried many ways to make myself accountable, such as typing my goals and commitments into a Word document, printing it out and sticking it by my bed, and telling my close friends about them. Announcing my commitments on my blog seems to be the best method so far.

If the same situation was presented to me last year, I would have probably taken up the offer and given up learning to code. However, I actually gave up a paid job to stick to my commitments. I suspect that this method worked well because of two reasons. One, I want to be seen online as someone who is consistent, especially since anyone whom I may work with in the future (potential employers, partners, co-founders, etc.) can easily read up about my past online. Two, I do not want to disappoint my "readers". I know few people read my blog but it has a psychological effect on me.

What have you tried to make yourself accountable? I would really like to hear your experiences (either success or failure) on this.

Photo credit: Ron Cogswell