While conducting trainings at the Americas League’s Regional Meetings, the importance of “commitment” came up maing times; after all, it is a key element for a Royal Prestige business to succeed. When we talk about commitment, we don’t imply to always remain firm or to never deviate from our intentions or promises. Commitment means standing up when we fall, recovering when we are tired, returning to our original plan when we move away from it.
I recently read the the legend of the great Scottish hero, Robert the Bruce:
It’s a true story that happened seven hundred years ago, in a period of history when the King of England ruled over Scotland. The English King was violent and cruel, and he brutally opressed the Scots for many years. But in the year 1306, Robert the Bruce aws crowned King of Scotland, and he made it his number-one priority to liberate his country. Soon after he took the throne, he raised an army and lef into war against the English on the blood-soaked battlefield of Strath-Fillan. Unfortunately, the English army had greater numbers and superior weapons, and the Scots were harshly defeated.
Robert the Bruce escaped and went into hiding in a cave. Cold, wet, exhausted, and bleeding from his wounds, he felt utterly hopeless. So great was his shame, so crushing his despair, he thought about leaving the country and never returning.
But as he laid there, he looked up and noticed a spider which was trying to spin a web across the gap in the wall of the cave. This was not an easy task. The spider would spin and strand if from one side of the gap to the other. Then it would spin another and another, weaving back and forth to build the web. Yet every few minutes a strong gust of win would blow through the gap, breaking the web ans sending the spider tumbling. The spider didn’t give up. The moment the wind died down, it would crawl back up to the edge of the gap and start spinning again from scratch.
Again and again the wind blew the web apart, and again and again the spider started rebuilding. Eventually, the wind died down long enough for the spider to spin a truly firm foundation, so that the next time the wind kicked up, the web was strong enough to withstand it, and the spider was finally able to finish the job.
Robert the Bruce was amazed by this spider’s persistence. he thought, “If that tiny creature can persist despite all those setbacks, then so can I.” The spider became his personal symbol of inspiration and he coined the famous motto “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again.” After his wounds had healed, he raised another army and continued to battle agains the English for the next eight years, finally defeating them in 1314 at the battle of Bannockburn – a battle in which his own men were outnumbered ten to one!
Of course, Robert the Bruce didn’t know he would succeed at his goal. He only knew that freedom was everything to him, and as long as he pursued that freedom, he was living a life he valued. (And he was therefore to endure all the hardships that went with it.)
Such is the nature of commitment: you can never know in advance whether you will achieve your goals; all you can do is keep moving forward in a valued direction. The future is not under your control. What is under your control is your ability to continue your journey, step by step, learning and growing as you progress – and getting back on track whenever you wander. In the words of the great leader, Sir Winston Churchill: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue what counts.”
by Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing