Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Simple yet oft-forgotten principles: commit to only what I can control. If I commit to things that are outside my control, I am assuming risk.

I ran into the situation recently There are many times in my life when I am surprised to find people doing things that go against time-proven principles. I should get over these surprises.

Commitment: I was do such-and-such by such-a-date. It is important to meet my commitments. If I don’t, people will label me as unreliable, undependable, and just maybe a big fat liar.

To avoid these labels, I should only commit to things that are outside my control. For example,

I will be at the coffee shop at 8AM tomorrow.

I can control almost everything related to that. Yes, if traffic is snarled, I won’t make it on time. If someone hits my car, I won’t make it. If I wake with the flu, I won’t make it. Those events, however, have a low probability of occurring and they are largely in my control.

Risk: Try this example,

I will have coffee with you in the coffee shop at 8AM tomorrow.

This assumes that the coffee shop will be open as advertised tomorrow. They coffee shop probably will be open tomorrow, but I have no control over that.

This second commitment causes me to assume risk. Something can go wrong (the coffee shop doesn’t open), and that possible bad situation is a risk.

Am I willing to assume that risk? If the coffee shop doesn’t open, I could be labeled as unreliable, undependable, and just maybe a big fat liar. Am I willing to stake my reputation on the reliability of the coffee shop?