There are three types of people

There are three types of people

Tim Connor

Yes, there are lots of different types of people but let me focus on just three for now; committers, quitters and vacillators and the winner is . . . read on.

I know, these words might not be found in the dictionary but they certainly should be clear when you consider their meaning.

Committers – these are people who decide, act, persist, believe, don’t quit and just keep on keeping on in spite of mistakes, challenges, obstacles even failure.  They are committed to their goals, purpose or mission with passion, courage, confidence and resilience.

Quitters – these folks stay with the plan only as long as it looks like they want it to look, the outcomes are what they expect and there are few obstacles or problems.  They expect the trip to be easy and without struggle, pain or disappointment.  They lack patience and stick – too – it – iveness.  They are easily discouraged and often like to go into blame or complain mode. 

Vacillators – these people can’t make up their minds.  They sway back and forth from try and do it to quit and give up.  Their actions and reactions are driven by emotions and not faith and comfort and not pain.  They want it their way but they are not always sure what their way is.  The hem and haw, wait and see, hope and don’t try.  These folks buy lots of tickets hoping to hit the jackpot.

When it comes to life and success, happiness and contentment no one gets there in the end travelling the easy path.  Struggle, pain, adversity and challenges are a normal part of life – relationships, health, career, business or finances.  No one gets out of here without sooner or later having their goals, plans, needs or desires sabotaged by the world, others, life or just chance.

Committers face just as many, if not more obstacles, than the quitters or vacillators but their response is to dig in, get creative, learn, ask or study every aspect of what is happening and ask themselves – why?  What can I change?  What caused this? What can I do better, different or faster?  What do I need to learn? Should I just be patient and keep moving forward one step or day at a time or refine, improve or modify before taking another step.

Committers don’t like pain or obstacles any more than the other two groups but they understand that anything worthwhile never happens easily, quickly or without some challenges or failure.  They use failure as a tool to grow and improve.  They use obstacles to find a better or different way and in the end if they chose to stop the forward momentum it is usually because there is something else in their life that brings them more satisfaction, feelings of success or contentment.

They don’t quit, they just change direction but their ultimate purpose is the same – to win, to overcome and to achieve a sense of joy and pride with whatever their outcome or accomplishments were.

Vacillators on the other hand stop and then go, go and then stop, at every turn.  They lack a sense of long term purpose or desire for a certain outcome.  They don’t have specific guiding principles that determine their attitudes, activities or actions.  They define success as a temporary satisfaction and they justify their results, regardless of whether they achieved their goals or not, with excuses, rationales or meaningless statements.  But, in the end they have this constant feeling of uncertainty as to what can I or should I do next?

Then we have quitters, what can I say?  These folks want it their way.  They lack any sense of dedication, responsibility, loyalty or enthusiasm. When an obstacle appears they throw in the towel, start something new or just point the finger at someone or something.  They fail to grasp that life and how it turns out is not up to our; customers, boss, parents, the weather, competitors, the economy, the government or anyone or anything they can think of.

We inherit what we work towards.  We live the consequences of our choices, actions and decisions. We experience what we focus on and give energy to.  We live in a personal world that we create.

So, the winner is . . . well, I’ll let you decide but in the end how we choose to define winning could be the culprit or reason why we have the overall mindset we have and how it impacts our life, our relationships and our future.

Which category would you put yourself in?  And I’m not referring here to just a particular situation, event or circumstance but your overall approach to life?

“Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit."

Vince Lombardi