I recently had an email exchange with a reader who, in his words, claimed to struggle with a lack of commitment. <\/p>\n
He wanted to study machine learning, but he couldn\u2019t get past the first few modules of the course he\u2019s taking. After a few emails back and forth, however, I discovered the reason he “wasn\u2019t able to commit\u201d was simply that his full-time job and family responsibilities kept getting in the way.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think this reader\u2019s problem was a lack of commitment. <\/p>\n
When genuinely more important things interfere with side projects, procrastinating on the side project is the correct thing to do! His problem isn\u2019t a lack of commitment; rather, it\u2019s a failure of logistics, difficulty organizing whatever leftover time was available to make some progress on his goal. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s a myth in self-improvement circles that everyone ought to be able to achieve any goal. Any failure to do so is seen as a lack of willpower, motivation or \u201ccommitment.\u201d Not only is this profoundly untrue, but the mindset it generates leads to an impasse that makes it impossible to make real progress.<\/p>\n