I have been evaluating talent for over 18 years. It started when I began doing baseball lessons, then as a scout, now as an intern. The mechanics are not much different from looking at a persons swing or their health. Evaluating is a learned skill set. So I want to address interest verse commitment. I see people all the time that are interested in changing some aspect of their life. They want to loose weight or get a degree so they can get that job they want, or even meet a mate. Then I meet people who are committed to these things. There is a huge difference and unless you are paying attention you might miss them. Here is the real bottom line. Interested people will do what is convenient to obtain what they want. If things work around their schedules, friends, family, work, and activities they will continue to chase their dreams. When things start to get in the way of their lifestyle or situations get tough and they now are going out of their way or things are not convenient anymore they give up. Committed people are a different breed. They do whatever it takes to obtain their dreams and goals. Which means when things become inconvenient and they will they change their situation, adjust, adapt, and keep moving towards the prize. The problems are not the focus they are just obstacles and the goal is always in front of them. The "Do Whatever It Takes" or DWIT is a solution based thinking. I have been in Chiropractic College for the last three and a half years. I was Committed to this process from the beginning. I have failed classes, been set back a quarter, and even failed my last set of board exams. So? My eyes are still on the prize. I am a chiropractor. I have not finished school and I do not have that piece of paper in my hand but in my mind I am a chiropractor. I've seen the graduation ceremony so many times in my head that I know it has already happened. I hope that it really is as amazing as I have imagined. I could have quit a thousand times and in the first year I wasn't so sure I was smart enough or even if I had the qualifications to even be here. I'm in class with biochemist, biologist, athletic trainers, and some other fields that I wasn't even sure existed. So of the smartest and intelligent minds I had ever experienced. I was just a former professional baseball player and baseball instructor who had been a chiropractic patient for over 25 years and had been adjusting teammates using the moves that had been done to me without any formal training. The hardest thing was I have only seen my daughter a handful of times in the last three years. We talk and text but I really miss her presence. When I came to Palmer one of the reasons was because it was close to her. Then she moved away. Another inconvenience I have had to adjust too. I have had to create a budget and stick to it. Which means many weekends spent at home, rarely eating out unless someone offers to pay, walking places to save gas, planning how many miles I have to drive in a week and planing work around this. I wasn't able to afford all the cool seminars so I looked for other alternatives. This weekend I borrowed an extremity adjusting video series from my preceptor doctor and watch that. Cost $0.00 and four hours of my time. I have found many educating doctors online. I paid for 2 years of medical training online for $99.00 over 500 lectures and I didn't start watching them until four months ago. I have obtained $400.00 medical books for $30.00 and use them weekly. I could have spent that money on shoes or clothes or my girlfriends but my focus and commitment has been constant. When my ways of being line up with my choices then I know I am committed to my wants, dreams, and goals. When my choices go against my gut feelings then I know I am off the mark. It is funny that the definition of sin is failing to hit the mark. So when I am not in line with my purpose I am actually sinning. I have seen this over and over in the last three years. I have made choices that have gone against my purpose. I once had a class that I thought was so boring that I would just sit in class surfing the Internet looking at crap. I couldn't understand how I failed the class. I had not mastered the material. Honestly I did not even know the material. The second time around I paid very close attention an obtained a B. So my money and time have really been spent doing the things that will require me to obtain my goals. I'm not saying you have to be this focused Nazi and not have any balance in your life. I have the mentality that I can have it all. I have been in relationships, played lots of baseball, trained my body into the best shape ever, traveled a little, and experienced the bay area. I have also said "No." a lot. Going out and partying it up and knowing full well that I will not be studying the next day has made me avoid this behavior. If I lived around whether things were convenient I would have quit this program in the first week. There is nothing convenient about this program. It stretches my limits all the time. Maybe I wasted days and weeks studying material in such a tired state I felt like I was not retaining any of the information. Maybe subconsciously I really was. Some people can not go through life and miss a thing. They have to go to that wedding even though it falls right before finals week. Or that concert, or trip, or even go home all the time miss because they miss their family. I laugh when they tell how much money they get and all the crap they blow it on. It's a loan. That trip to South America that cost $3000.00 today will be $30,000 with compounding interest. Or the new car or truck, all the furniture, and trips to Vegas and Hawaii. They will be paying on that stuff for the next 20 years even after they have sold it. I kept things to a minimum. I worked my butt off because I didn't take all the loans and I did not buy things with my loan money. I used my earnings. I have even maintained a $500.00 a month car payment. I should have sold it, but I like my Jeep.
So I was willing to DWIT to have it. I worked late nights whenever I was called to. I umpired all spring and summer as many days a week as I could. I cooked for myself and ate lots of rice and oatmeal. I didn't get a gym membership until my last year and I only kept it for five months. I do not need a gym to motivate me. I can work out just as hard with body weight or use the free gym at the apartment complex. Today I work in a clinic that has a gym in it. It was one of the reasons I chose it.
I hope this is starting to make sense. There is a huge difference between being interested and being committed to something. When you chose to do something then make sure you are committed to it. Your effort and enthusiasm will be high and positive and it will be fun. Chiropractic school has been hard but I will say it has been fun too. If you know me then if its not fun I will not do it.
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