Are you Committed?

Executive Report by John Reblin

So here we are early in the year. New Year’s Day has come and gone. It is time to get the Christmas decorations down, the tree dragged to the gutter before the needles are all over the floor, to get picked up and taken to the landfill. Or another alternative is to feed it to the goats. And if you have an artificial tree just fold it up and put it in the box and slide onto the shelf for next year.

Unless you are one of “those people” you might have gotten the lights wrapped up and back in the storage bin. Or at least you have them unplugged from the timer so they are not lighting up the rest of the winter and are settling into that time of the year that we are holed up at home getting some of those inside projects done.

We had the deep freeze and I was worried that this was going to be a terrible winter of cold and snow, but it has not been that bad yet. Now I probably jinxed it. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy the warmer winter conditions. I don’t need to worry about moving snow, along with keeping the utility bills a little lower, especially with the increased costs.

Many people have those New Year’s Eve traditions that you follow. Fire up the grille or smoker and cook some protein. Maybe it is going to that fun little location that serves a really great Prime Rib or some other main course that is really a favorite of yours.

Another thing people do on that last night of the year, whether public or to themselves is to make a New Year’s resolution to change or do something that you have not done before. It could be a health change like putting out that last cigarette or maybe doing the “dry January” challenge. It can be anything that you want to change about yourself, your life, your future.

When you make that resolution, you are making a commitment to change something, to do something to improve yourself or something around you. Most likely that resolution lasts a few hours or maybe a couple of days, depending on what it is. It all depends on the will power or commitment you give it.

At Officer’s Training, if you are attending, we are going to be asking you if you are committed or just interested in the motorcycle rights movement. Management expert Ken Blanchard is credited with saying, “There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”

I think in ABATE of Wisconsin, we have many committed members and those that are at Officer’s Training this year are not interested, but already committed or ready to become committed. They are ready to take on the tasks of the day within the organization whether it is being on the Board of Directors or the person that is helping out at their regions Chili Cook Off. They are ready to put in the time to do what they are doing and ultimately make the event or organization successful.

How do you get committed? Part of it I think is as simple as when you are starting a project you have decided on, you put it on paper. You have a starting point when you decide that you want to attempt something and an end point. Then you have a written plan or road map to get from point a to point b. You have the steps laid out, with a date of completion, someone responsible to do the steps and guidelines of what you want done. You are just following a strategic plan to be successful. But to put your success on the plan you need to have a belief in what it is.

If you are selling raffle tickets for something you don’t believe in or support, how hard are you really going to try to make the sale. How hard are you going to ask for that membership or ask for that donation for the next event.

Officer’s Training this year in Marshfield is the place to be. We will be working together to make sure that this organization is strong financially, with a strong legislative presence in Madison and in Washington DC. And we will be making sure that our educational things are in order also. Making sure that Share The Road and SafeRider has the resources to be successful. That we are working to educate drivers and riders to be responsible on the road. To work towards lowering crashes and fatalities.

We have our work cut out, but I think we, working together, can make this another great year.

Let’s all start this year not just being interested, but let’s all be committed.

Ride Your Own Ride.

John