A Letter from Chris Suarez
DON’T BREAK YOUR PIGGY BANK!
By this time of the year, most of us have already set some goals for the upcoming new year. We’ve taken those goals and decided on what to prioritize in order to reach them. Some have taken one step further and drilled down to the specific activities that must be done in order to achieve those priorities.
Your goals and business plans are commitments, but regardless of how “committed” we are to them, things will always come up. There will always be reasons to not do what we said we would do - perhaps even great reasons. Making commitments alone will not be enough. Building and incorporating commitment devices into your plan will be required. In fact, the strength of your commitment devices will determine the level of our commitment and level of our success.
Perhaps one of the oldest forms of a commitment device was the “piggy bank”. You know, the bank you had as a kid that you would save your quarters and nickels and dimes and pennies in. You would drop your coins in the slot on the top of the bank and save your money little by little. That is, until you really wanted something or needed something, and then as with the case with most of those piggy banks, you’d pull out the cork or rubber stopper in the bottom of the bank and the coins would all fall out. But that wasn’t the original purpose of the piggy bank.
The modern day piggy bank is much like a simple goal sheet. When we see the piggy bank on our dresser, it reminds us to save our coins. Similarly, our goal sheet can remind us of what we said we would do. But the piggy bank was originally intended to be a real commitment device. The piggy bank’s origin began in the Middle Ages when clay pots and containers were used to hold coins and money. Those pots were originally made from an orange colored clay material called pygg. Those pots became known as “pygg pots”. Over the years, with the development of the English language, Americans began asking for their “pygg pot” to be made in the shape of an actual pig. Thus, the modern day “piggy bank” was produced. But the original piggy bank was a much stronger commitment device. Once money and coins were placed inside, there wasn’t a way to get the money out unless you broke the actual clay pot. It was a device to drive the commitment to save your money. It made it slightly more difficult to access the savings and spend the money unless you were willing to actually break the pot - never to use it again. Conversely, you had to be really committed to getting those coins.
Ironically, we can’t even commit to saving a few coins long term, so we started creating piggy banks with rubber stoppers in the bottom that could be opened up to remove the coins at any moment. What was once a real commitment device has become more of a countertop knick-knack.
So what about today? How can we stay committed to our goals, and priorities, and activities?
Build in commitment devices. Look for places in our life, people in our life, systems in our life, tools in our life, technology in our life to act as commitment devices.
Incorporate as many commitment devices as you can find or need!
Here are Five Commitment Devices that I use every day. I refer to these as my Five S’s:
A Schedule
Take some time to build out a daily, weekly, and monthly calendar you can commit to. Make sure that the activities in that calendar will lead to results you wanted on your goal sheet and business plan. Once that calendar is set, start each morning with a commitment to follow your calendar. I very rarely have to ask myself, “what should I be doing now?” or “where should I be?”. That is because I am willing to commit to using a calendar. My google calendar is one of my simplest but strongest commitment devices. A spontaneous check in throughout your day to see if your activity matches your calendar will help build in the rhythm of commitment.
A Squad
Find your squad. Being a member of a high performing and highly accountable team is one of the strongest commitment devices we could introduce to our life. I have found that partners in business, partners in health, partners in life make commitment easier. Our results are largely determined by the situation or environment we place ourselves in. Kurt Lewin was one of the pioneers of modern social psychology. His formula, B=f(PS), was built on research that found that human behavior was a function of the person and their situation, or environment. The environment that we put ourselves in will act as a commitment device. Once we promise a partner or a team member that we will show up and do the work, well, we will show up and do the work. The economic gain of keeping your commitments far outweighs the financial give to any of your partners.
A System
Having a tech platform or system that allows you to set your goal and track your path to your goal will serve as an incredible commitment device. Incorporating it into a platform that you are forced to look at each day to see where you are in relationship to where you said you would be is not just accountability. It’s not just a tracker. It serves as a daily loudspeaker to remind you of your commitment and a daily mirror to show you who you are and who you have been.
A Space
Make sure your desk space and working space supports your commitment. If you are there to work, only have the ability to work. Limit the number of screens within reach. Limit the number of potential distractions within reach. Limit access to anything other than the activity you committed to. For those that have opted to work from home or stay in an hybrid work environment, be warned. A home office is a weak commitment device. Many ask why I continue to drive the 30 minutes to the office each and every day. No one is there to tell me to do that. No one would miss me if I didn’t show up. But my office space is a commitment device for me to focus, show up, and be a promise keeper - to myself and all of my partners.
A Somebody
We all need somebody. Don’t forget that having a person in our life that is there to check in on us and what we do is a strong commitment device. Whether that is a coach, a consultant, a partner, or a teammate, a person is one of the most effective commitment devices we can add.
Commitment is one of the key characteristics of successful people. By building commitment devices into our life we give ourselves a great opportunity to reach our goals personally and financially.
Lack of commitment can literally break the bank - the piggy bank.
Chris