Commitment = determination and perseverance

Commitment = determination and perseverance

The entrepreneurial mind is fertile ground for bright ideas but it is self discipline and commitment that will see to it that an idea grows. Many people try to be entrepreneurs, but hey ultimately fail because they lack the determination and perseverance to hurdle challenges and get back up after a fall.

            Splash corp. CEO Dr. Roland Hortaleza, who build his company on innovative beauty products, says, “all throughout my entrepreneurial journey, I have had my share of failures. We’ve had failed product launches, failed product innovations, failed packaging. Our hit rate is probably only 30 percent. But if you persevere long enough, you’ll have enough success to tide you over.”

            Commitment, however, is very difficult to develop. But it is what determines a person’s ability to put in the hard work and the persistence to see an idea or task through. Commitment can be nurtured, however. The discipline of work is not developed in adulthood, but in childhood.

            I’ve heard parents say, “I know my child is smart, but why does he not apply himself to school work? His grades don’t reflect what he is capable of. I can’t get him to work and do his best.” This apparent mediocrity in work is reflective of the child’s lack of commitment to do excellent and good work.

            Parents and teachers can develop discipline and commitment by giving children the opportunity to be accountable for goals they have set. The positive expectation that they will finish what they start, without any excuses and no matter how difficult the task, gives them the character to develop commitment, determination and perseverance.

“With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance,

All thins are attainable.”

-Thomas Foxwell Buxton”-

ABC of developing commitment

 Always do your best and work hard. There is no substitute for hard work. Mediocrity, or doing work just to get by, is common among children who are overindulged. It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, if you are not careful, you will end up teaching children that they can get what they want without working for it. The Filipino trait or “bahala na”, which is about leaving everything to chance, should not be encouraged or modeled. A child who is lazy to do his homework will say “bahala na” and resigns himself to what happens the next day. Parents and teachers should watch out for laziness and push children to work hard and be accountable for their work.

Be in charge welcome responsibility and change. An entrepreneurial mindset comes with a take charge attitude. When you own a operate a business, no one else is responsible for its successes or failures. There’s only you. Teach children at an early age to welcome responsibility. Tell them that there will be challenges and there will be factors that they cannot control, but they can choose to not give up and instead confront challenges and just keep on solving problems that come their way. Give them chores around the house, or if you have a business, ask them to help out. Del Monte Phils. CEO Joselito Campos, whose father founded drug manufacturing firm Unilab, remembers helping his father out when he was just 13years old. The valuable experience opened his eyes to what workers go through every day, enabling him to become a better CEO.

Continue to be a lifelong learner. The best commitment a child can make is to be a lifelong learner. It will teach him to be self reliant and be responsible for his won knowledge and decisions.

            Perseverance is fuelled by the desire to succeed and constantly improve. If the perseverance is fuelled by the desire to succeed and constantly improve. If the attitude towards learning is positive, children will gain the entrepreneurial mindset to continuously seek better and new ways to do things or to improve their products. Successful entrepreneurs are continuously reinventing themselves and their enterprises to remain competitive. Love for learning is modeled best by parents and teachers, who mush show children that no one is ever too old to learn.