I’ve read posts by several different bloggers sharing their favorite quotes — in particular, quotes they found inspirational or illuminating. Today I’m sharing mine.
This comes from the Scottish mountain climber W. H. Murray. I first heard it at a course offered by Landmark Education.
ON COMMITMENT
Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: That the moment one definitely commits oneself then Providence moves, too.
All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues forth from the decision raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.
I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets:
Whatever you can do or dream,
begin it
Boldness has genius, power,
and magic in it.Begin it now.
It has always seemed to me that this quote contains two propositions. One is important but fairly prosaic: that nothing happens until you take action. Just thinking about doing something does not move the needle.
But the other is a bit more — what’s the word? — remarkable: the fact that when you definitively commit yourself to a given objective, opportunities for fulling that commitment materialize. Resources show up, openings for action present themselves that would never have emerged had you not made that commitment. You discover that the person you just met at a cocktail party has expertise you need to achieve your goal. People step forward to volunteer their assistance.
When I was between careers more than thirty years ago and working an assortment of temp jobs, I spent the better part of a year pondering what kind of work I would do. What I really wanted was a job in computing, but I had been working as a radio broadcaster until then, so I had no professional I.T. qualifications. Finally, while working a summer job at Princeton University, and inspired by the Murray quote, I made an explicit commitment to finding a specific type of job, albeit one that might have seemed unlikely. I shared my commitment with everyone I knew: “I’m going to work in computer-user support.”
As it turned out, one of the visiting professors in the department I was working in knew the woman who had previously managed the help desk in the University’s computer center. He encouraged her to pass my name and resume along to the woman who currently held that job, who ended up hiring me. If I hadn’t made an explicit commitment — if I had stayed in the place of “I hope to work in computing someday” — none of that would have happened.
Everything I’ve done professionally since then has flowed from that commitment. In a way, I owe thirty years of my working life to W. H. Murray.