BE THE ROCK, NOT DWAYNE JOHNSON

Dedication

One of the secrets to success is consistency, and a key ingredient to making consistency work for you is dedication. I would write on consistency in my next post, as we gradually coast towards the end of our excellence and character building series on Mondays. If you haven’t read the posts on all the topics we’ve covered, do us both a favour and go read them up. Topics such as distractions, procrastination, courage, and greatness have been discussed already. Let’s talk about dedication though, that’s the focus of this post.

 Dedication is self-sacrificing devotion and loyalty to a person, brand, cause or movement. It requires you to decide to commit yourself to the object of your dedication and renew that commitment. It takes incredible strength, courage and resilience to be dedicated towards a cause, and in a fast-paced world, very few people are able to build themselves to stay committed or dedicated to causes they once thought they’d be loyal to.

In marriages, friendships, families, and even workplaces, today’s society is rife with people who do not know or care about dedication. Life is lived for the thrill and fun it gives, and tomorrow should take care of itself. A careful look at the effect of this lifestyle though, shows that humanity is suffering greatly for this. It is almost as if we have lost touch with the balance between our emotional and logical parts of ourselves, and tend to cling to either one or the other. So, while some are overly emotional, others are too logical, and look at where we are today. Soaring rates of divorce, neglected kids, abused kids, folding businesses, rapid job cuts and downsizing, are only some of the effects of lack of dedicated people in the society.

This social and moral plague, which has befallen society, especially with an upsurge since the turn of the 21^st century could eat up man into a cold, heartless society.

If you’ve read so far, I want you to take a quick pause and ask yourself, what are you dedicated to, or who are you dedicated to, and why? If you have a list, I’ll give a quick checklist of four things to consider as you rate how truly dedicated you are to those people or things. You would rate yourself on a 1 – 10 scale and see where you place. The average score should tell you how well you are doing right now. Please, answer truthfully; it’s just you and yourself.

1. How well do you respect the object of your dedication?
2. How much value do you place on it?
3. How willing are you to commit your resources towards this focus of your dedication?
4. How eager are you to protect or defend the cause?
5. How well do you stand as an ambassador or representative of this cause?
6. How willing would you be to inconvenience yourself for the cause?

If you scored an average of 1 – 5.9, then you aren’t dedicated. If you ranked between 6 and 7.8, then you are doing well, but you’ve got to put in a little more effort. If you hit 7.9 and above, I believe you are dedicated enough, though I’ll assume you can’t score a perfect 10, but it’s your score though.

Well, now that you’ve done that little exercise, let’s look at a few reasons why you should become a dedicated person:

1. Character Building

A dedicated person finds it easy to live a lifestyle of commitment, trust, and consistency. If you can actively dedicate yourself towards a cause, you would find out that you also acquire other values that build your character, and this makes you a better person in the long run.

2. People Love Dedication

If you’ve been in a relationship before, or had close access to people who have been in one, you would find out that whether it worked out or not, one thing that stands out to a lot of people is how dedicated their partner was towards them. Even at work, what employer isn’t pleased with the staffs who give themselves passionately towards their place of employment? It has helped a lot of people secure permanent jobs from volunteering, industrial attachment, and even their youth service year.

It is always a relief knowing that you have people you can count on, especially when you are in your down times.

3. Dedication Attracts Favour

Ever read the story of Daniel in the Bible? Apart from his unusual excellent nature, he was a dedicated person, and this made him one of the few people who survived the reign of four dictator kings. Not only did he survive, he enjoyed favour and consistent promotions as a result of his dedication towards the kings, even though he was a foreigner in that land.

It is hard to say no to a dedicated person, and it is much easier to favour them above people of questionable character.

4. Good Always Wins

Especially when it looks like no good is coming out of your devotion, staying dedicated to your cause, as long as it is a noble and right one, would always pay off. It is a sure bet, and if you need any proof of that, read up on the story of the prisoner who turned prime minister of a world power.

If these points made you want to improve on yourself and become a dedicated person, I would be happy to give you a few tips on how to do this:

1. Become a Person of Honour

Dedication is a mark of honour, and if you do not honour a person, brand, or movement, you cannot truly dedicate yourself. To honour means to place in very high regard, in your thoughts, words, and actions. You learn to listen, obey, and support.

Learn to honour whatever you want to dedicate yourself to, and the journey becomes a lot easier for you.

2. Take Small Steps

You should know that being dedicated is a continuous process. It is not a final destination. Knowing this, you should not attempt to take huge steps and get there overnight. It is in the little acts of obedience, faithfulness, and consistency that dedication is built.

3. Shut out Distractions and Detractors

For every good thing you attempt to do, there would always be things you would see that might make you want to throw in the towel. What makes it even worse is when these distractions are sponsored by people.

You should learn to identify and discard whatever would shift your loyalty and commitment from the focus of your dedication.

I hope this post has increased your desire to improve in your dedication towards things that are good and that matter to you and would also impact others positively. You can always let me know in the Comments section. Also, remember to follow us here and on our social media platforms, it takes less than five minutes, and the benefits are enormous.

Catch you later! Stay smart!