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Commit: How to Blast Through Problems & Reach Your Goals Through Massive Action
This book is out of print and no longer supported by the author.
- GenresBusiness
126 pages, Paperback
First published January 29, 2015
14 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Linda Formichelli
31 books25 followersLinda Formichelli is a freelance writer in Los Angeles. She spent 25 years writing for top publications and brands, from Good Housekeeping and Inc. magazines to Best Buy and Intel. She's also the author or coauthor of a dozen books, including the classic The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 12, 2016
REVIEW of COMMIT: How to Reach Your Goals & Solve Your Problems through Massive Action
Suppose, like Linda Formichelli, two decades ago you wanted to become a professional writer and break free of working in the corporate cubicle. While baby steps might have seemed sufficient, she found that she and her family had to commit to this goal big time. She changed careers, moved from New Hampshire to North Carolina, found ways to economize on time and money, wrote articles and queries and cover letters non-stop, and with her husband proceeded to homeschool their son, while she fulfilled her personal commitment to becoming a prosperous freelance writer.
The message here is simple: sometimes, baby steps will NOT get you where you want to go.
Committing works four ways: it can give you explosively quick results; it boosts your motivation: it can automate your goals, as success feeds upon success; the victories make you feel good, rather than discouraged.
You can get an overview and some of the flavor of the book from the chapter titles:
• “What is Committing and Why the Heck Do I Care?”
• “Getting Ready to Commit”
• “Up Your Mental Game”
• “By the Numbers”
• “Noun Power”
• “Putting It All Together”
• “Troubleshooting”
• “What If You’re Really, Really Not Ready to Commit?”
• “Final Thoughts”
• “Where I Brag on Myself in the Third Person and Ask You to Buy My Stuff”
Examples of the level of helpful details are L.F.’s 20 tactics (her words, my explanations):
• “Embrace discomfort.” If it’s comfortable, you aren’t stretching enough.
• “Clear the decks.” Abandon lesser projects and concerns.
• “Make it non--optional.” If it is really worth doing, then you MUST do it.
• “Connect your goal to a larger purpose.” Why are you doing this, really?
• “Go big or go home.” Half-measures won’t suffice.
• “Check in with yourself.” Make sure this is what you really want.
• “Put some skin in the game.” The more you risk, the greater your motivation to succeed.
• “Read 10 or more books on the subject.” By then, you’ll nearly be an expert.
• “Overwhelm your goals with sheer numbers.” Barely enough is likely to be insufficient.
• “Make a list of 100 ideas.” Don’t settle for 10. Some of the next 90 are likely to be gems.
• “Do a 30-day challenge.” We can put up with almost anything for a month.
• “Fill every spare moment.” Like those ladies who knit while doing something else.
• “Deliberately move faster.’ You can speed it up if you decide to.
• “Surf your way to success.” The Web is your friend, your teacher.
• “Measure everything.” Management gurus advise that if it isn’t measured, it isn’t done.
• “Hire help.” Not all jobs are suitable as do-it-yourself projects. Divide and conquer, specialization and division of labor.
• “Crowdsourcing.” The ultimate in getting outside involvement.
• “Gear up.” You can’t do something with nothing. Buy the essentials, at least. Investment enhances motivation.
• “Make space.” You’ll need elbow room or even a whole room. Find it at home or perhaps rent it.
• “Let the competition spur you on.” If Mr. X. or Ms. Y. can do it, so can you, right?
Ms. Fornichelli gives the successful example of her family’s migration south and her successful freelance writing career, requiring a whole-hearted commitment. She gives the counter-example of their unsuccessful effort to keep their cats from destroying their furniture, an effort marked by half-measures and failure.
In my own case, I would contrast my tentative steps toward becoming a freelance writer in my retirement, as opposed to my triumphant second marriage, where I rescued my college sweetheart from a difficult situation, changed location, jobs, and career, downshifted my living arrangements and my other expenses, and was blessed with the marriage that I had always hoped for.
“Faint heart never won fair lady” the adage goes. Whether in love or war or career, one must commit fully to achieve great outcomes.
If you have a big dream, buy this book.
Suppose, like Linda Formichelli, two decades ago you wanted to become a professional writer and break free of working in the corporate cubicle. While baby steps might have seemed sufficient, she found that she and her family had to commit to this goal big time. She changed careers, moved from New Hampshire to North Carolina, found ways to economize on time and money, wrote articles and queries and cover letters non-stop, and with her husband proceeded to homeschool their son, while she fulfilled her personal commitment to becoming a prosperous freelance writer.
The message here is simple: sometimes, baby steps will NOT get you where you want to go.
Committing works four ways: it can give you explosively quick results; it boosts your motivation: it can automate your goals, as success feeds upon success; the victories make you feel good, rather than discouraged.
You can get an overview and some of the flavor of the book from the chapter titles:
• “What is Committing and Why the Heck Do I Care?”
• “Getting Ready to Commit”
• “Up Your Mental Game”
• “By the Numbers”
• “Noun Power”
• “Putting It All Together”
• “Troubleshooting”
• “What If You’re Really, Really Not Ready to Commit?”
• “Final Thoughts”
• “Where I Brag on Myself in the Third Person and Ask You to Buy My Stuff”
Examples of the level of helpful details are L.F.’s 20 tactics (her words, my explanations):
• “Embrace discomfort.” If it’s comfortable, you aren’t stretching enough.
• “Clear the decks.” Abandon lesser projects and concerns.
• “Make it non--optional.” If it is really worth doing, then you MUST do it.
• “Connect your goal to a larger purpose.” Why are you doing this, really?
• “Go big or go home.” Half-measures won’t suffice.
• “Check in with yourself.” Make sure this is what you really want.
• “Put some skin in the game.” The more you risk, the greater your motivation to succeed.
• “Read 10 or more books on the subject.” By then, you’ll nearly be an expert.
• “Overwhelm your goals with sheer numbers.” Barely enough is likely to be insufficient.
• “Make a list of 100 ideas.” Don’t settle for 10. Some of the next 90 are likely to be gems.
• “Do a 30-day challenge.” We can put up with almost anything for a month.
• “Fill every spare moment.” Like those ladies who knit while doing something else.
• “Deliberately move faster.’ You can speed it up if you decide to.
• “Surf your way to success.” The Web is your friend, your teacher.
• “Measure everything.” Management gurus advise that if it isn’t measured, it isn’t done.
• “Hire help.” Not all jobs are suitable as do-it-yourself projects. Divide and conquer, specialization and division of labor.
• “Crowdsourcing.” The ultimate in getting outside involvement.
• “Gear up.” You can’t do something with nothing. Buy the essentials, at least. Investment enhances motivation.
• “Make space.” You’ll need elbow room or even a whole room. Find it at home or perhaps rent it.
• “Let the competition spur you on.” If Mr. X. or Ms. Y. can do it, so can you, right?
Ms. Fornichelli gives the successful example of her family’s migration south and her successful freelance writing career, requiring a whole-hearted commitment. She gives the counter-example of their unsuccessful effort to keep their cats from destroying their furniture, an effort marked by half-measures and failure.
In my own case, I would contrast my tentative steps toward becoming a freelance writer in my retirement, as opposed to my triumphant second marriage, where I rescued my college sweetheart from a difficult situation, changed location, jobs, and career, downshifted my living arrangements and my other expenses, and was blessed with the marriage that I had always hoped for.
“Faint heart never won fair lady” the adage goes. Whether in love or war or career, one must commit fully to achieve great outcomes.
If you have a big dream, buy this book.
December 21, 2017
Got Me Motivated
Concise, clear and highly actionable, I loved reading this brief yet helpful book. The massive action philosophy is one I intend to adopt with creating my freelance business in 2018. Already started mass applying for gigs and lining up e-courses. I recommend this to anyone who just needs a push and some guidance to truly commit.
Concise, clear and highly actionable, I loved reading this brief yet helpful book. The massive action philosophy is one I intend to adopt with creating my freelance business in 2018. Already started mass applying for gigs and lining up e-courses. I recommend this to anyone who just needs a push and some guidance to truly commit.
February 2, 2015
I was looking for a non-fiction book in my quest to meet some goals that seemed to fade away when Linda Formichelli asked me to read her book, Commit. This book is uplifting, and I feel it will help me succeed in making my big dreams come true. Her well laid-out chapters give me the building blocks to go after these dreams in a big way along with the tools and motivation I need. I can imagine many situations in my life that might have turned out positive if only I had committed my energy to solving the problem. The author not only motivates the reader to commit, but shares many suggestions and how the reader can actually accomplish their goals. My notebook (which she recommends to have with you all the time) is filled with ideas, and I am off to make them work.
February 6, 2015
Commit's biggest strengths are:
1. It introduces a revolutionary new method of accomplishing goals, which is the opposite of the "baby steps" approach generally promoted.
2. It gives loads of examples for each new step introduced, and clearly outlined tasks. So, it gives you baby steps for your massive action.
I love self-help books, and I really enjoyed this one, which is a super quick read (you can go through it in one or two sittings). I think the Commit concept of massive action through simultaneous actions is really brilliant, because as Linda Formichelli says, you reap immediate results that keep you motivated. Props to her for introducing this much needed, fresh idea.
1. It introduces a revolutionary new method of accomplishing goals, which is the opposite of the "baby steps" approach generally promoted.
2. It gives loads of examples for each new step introduced, and clearly outlined tasks. So, it gives you baby steps for your massive action.
I love self-help books, and I really enjoyed this one, which is a super quick read (you can go through it in one or two sittings). I think the Commit concept of massive action through simultaneous actions is really brilliant, because as Linda Formichelli says, you reap immediate results that keep you motivated. Props to her for introducing this much needed, fresh idea.
December 12, 2015
Massive Action Required
I really enjoyed this book. Linda makes committing an easy practice by breaking her ideas down into easy tasks. She gives great examples of how to accomplish goals without spending a fortune. As a goal-setter and tracker, I believe her advice can help others reach their goals quicker than they ever thought possible.
I really enjoyed this book. Linda makes committing an easy practice by breaking her ideas down into easy tasks. She gives great examples of how to accomplish goals without spending a fortune. As a goal-setter and tracker, I believe her advice can help others reach their goals quicker than they ever thought possible.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews