I was fairly lazy, reclusive, and scattered growing up. I needed a LOT of external motivation to do pretty much anything, whether it came from incentives, scare tactics, or even outright medication (I was on a Ritalin prescription for several years). Granted, most kids and teenagers are like that; being stubborn and reclusive is a big part of adolescence. But that’s exactly why I find this to be so important.

Life is all about stepping outside of one’s comfort zone; that’s what paves the way for new opportunities, relationships, and experiences. But stepping outside of my comfort zone is by definition, uncomfortable; not to mention painful and risky. At least, it always feels that way. So what motivation exists to do that?

If you take one thing away from this article, let it be this: there’s power in commitment. Yes, that’s basically the title of the article, which emphasizes how much I want you to internalize this.

What does that mean?

Yes Man is easily my favorite romcom. Jim Carrey’s character reflects a lot of things I saw in my own life for a while: withdrawn, cynical, and empty. His life turns around when he starts saying “yes” to everything. He finds the girl of his dreams, he gets a big promotion at work, and regains the respect of his friends. In essence, he regains his will to live, and he does so by making commitments.

For a while, I basically felt like a spectator to life. I had a lot of reclusive tendencies, and would spend a lot of time numbing myself with TV and videogames. I partially expected that opportunities would just fall into my lap.

When I started making commitments and holding myself accountable to them, I found myself breaking internal barriers that I previously thought were insurmountable. I struggled with math for a long time as a kid; now I do it for a living and I enjoy it because I committed to taking harder math classes. I hated writing growing up; now I’m starting this blog because I committed to writing for it.

There’s only one person in your life who has the capacity to unconditionally push you to succeed; imagine what internal barriers you can break if you push yourself harder.

I will admit: Commitment isn’t the only part of the equation. There needs to be something to defend through that commitment; some sense of consequence, so that you’ll hold yourself accountable. Otherwise, what’s backing that commitment? What’s the penalty for breaking a commitment? It’s like writing a check with no money in your account. Often times, a word of honor is what’s at stake when making commitments. Wither away at your word of honor, and people stop trusting you.

For Carl (Jim Carrey’s character) in Yes Man, he would face the consequences of breaking his covenant: falling down a staircase, getting trapped in an elevator, or getting his car towed.

When you make a commitment and have something to defend, you’ll discover a bigger drive to uphold that commitment. And that drive will sometimes push you right outside of your comfort zone.

Those commitments can take any number of forms, but hopefully these seed some ideas:

• Reach out to 10 different people each day

• Learn a new skill

• Write a book

It’s amazing how opportunities start to emerge once you start saying “yes” to things, and to life itself.