Stop Making New Year's Resolutions!

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All right, Gurpiari, Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.

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How are you?

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you do that?

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How are you doing?

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We haven't seen each other in a week or so.

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How are you doing?

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I'm doing good.

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I'm a bit exhausted, admittedly, from all of the end of the year celebrations going on
here.

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Like, I've basically been cruising from party to party for the last four days or something
like that.

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So, I am a bit short on sleep, but I'm good.

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How are you doing, sir?

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Good, yeah, what do you think about all these end-of-the-year things?

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I like him.

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know, I actually, like here in Argentina, you know, like people are very friendly and like
we make family and friends very easily here.

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So it's an opportunity for everyone to get together with the people they love and, you
know, eat something, chat, you know, sort of catch up.

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I actually find it very pleasant.

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And anything in particular caught your interest in the last week or so?

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Yeah, that several of my friends and acquaintances broke up long time, like years long,
recently.

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really?

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so, so, you know, that happens a lot.

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You know, everybody knows that happens a lot at Christmas time.

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And so like, yeah, no, this is a fact.

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And everybody knows that, you know, everybody talks with great affection about the hot,
like in the United States, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

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Christmas family holidays.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

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And, but the truth is, is that other, not even other people, maybe it's the same people
who even who have affection for it, is that people with families often talk about

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Christmas and New Year's as actually the most stressful times of the year for them.

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And you know, they have family visiting.

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and having to take care of family.

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But then also, there's a lot of love in these families, but there's also family dynamics,
right?

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So, you know, stuff can happen.

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So there's often stress, and a lot of times, actually, people don't even, even though they
pretend they do, they don't actually...

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enjoy it as much as people think, not everybody, but it's actually, because there's a lot
of stress associated with it and it puts pressure on relationships and people have

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expectations of the event and how people should relate to it.

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And it brings out all this stuff.

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You I think things like Christmas and New Year's are presented as these, these
unequivocally happy events, but actually, they trigger a lot of people

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people, I think, even get depressed sometimes when the reality doesn't match the
expectation.

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Yeah, I would say that a lot of people get into a bit of a melancholy mood around these
days.

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It's happened to me in the past actually.

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I had a stretch of a couple years where the holidays would come around.

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And for whatever reason, I wasn't very satisfied with my life.

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I wasn't happy with one aspect or another.

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And I would start thinking like, oh my God, another year where I didn't manage to do this
or that.

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now the holidays are passing by again.

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And you start getting into this sort of weird loop of self-pity in a way.

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And it's very comfortable to indulge in that, especially because, and this might sound a
bit silly.

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But there is also an aspect of rebellion about being grumpy during the holidays, I think,
a little bit.

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You're not gonna cooperate with the festive cheer.

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Right, exactly, yes.

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There is a bit of that.

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There is something to being a Grinch for a bit.

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Well, I think the rebel part of it is...

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people real or imagined that people are telling them how they should feel and behave.

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And the response is, I'll feel the way I want to.

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Don't infringe on my right to feel the way I want to.

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You're insisting that I'm happy even though I'm not.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Don't cause any waves, just feel happy, look happy, even if you're miserable because it's
Christmas, so don't ruin anybody else's day.

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So everybody's kind of a little on edge.

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It's funny because when we put it like this, it sounds almost a bit uh Orwellian in a
sense, know?

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Like everyone just sort of enforcing this status quo of uh artificial merriment because
it's the season and this is how we are supposed to feel and please don't rock the boat,

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don't make a scene, don't talk about politics with your uncle, please just keep to
yourself, you know?

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That's universal.

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And so he's the uncle too.

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It's always the uncle.

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It's always the uncle, yeah, for some reason.

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Yeah, yeah, don't talk to your uncle about politics.

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That's a universal rule.

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anyhow, so we diverge.

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We're talking about Christmas.

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Anything in particular came up this week that...

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in some way is interesting in itself, but kind of trips over the warrior saint theme.

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uh

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I got something to share that I think is interesting.

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So last night actually, I got together with two very dear friends of mine.

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I've known them for like 13 years or something like close to 15.

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We were bandmates when we were teenagers and we shared a lot of things.

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As I said, they're musicians, very talented guys.

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And yesterday we got together for the first time in many, many, many years in the place
where we used to have our rehearsals when we were like teens, you know.

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And, you know, we just kind of started talking, you know, and sharing a little bit about
the passage of time, you know, and we were just kind of tripping a little bit about how

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other younger siblings who used to be like tiny little kids like reaching my waist.

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Now they're both adults and they're going to university and like they share in the same
table as us.

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And I think that's, you know, something else that probably shakes people up about this
time of the year is well, the passage of time really, you know.

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Like makes you, this time of the year makes you very aware of the passage of time.

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It's like just sort of blaring it at you all the time.

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And like you said, like just like Christmas, you know, triggers people in this way, as you
mentioned.

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I also think that this constant awareness of the passage of time, it triggers, well, a lot
of, you know, anxieties about the future.

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It triggers insecurities that people are holding.

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It triggers.

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You know, sometimes it like, triggers people into action in other cases, but like it just
sort of moves all sorts of things around.

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You know what I mean?

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So what happened in this case?

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Well...

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It was good.

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You know, like it's always good sharing with my friends.

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It always makes me happy.

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But it did get me thinking a bit, you know, about, okay, what am I doing to, you know, get
my life a bit more together?

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You know, what am I doing to sort of go for the goals that I've set for myself?

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Because I mean, I'm young, but not a kid anymore either, right?

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and uh...

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I believe that all the life is not really linear.

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It's not like you can do all sorts of things at all sorts of times.

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I also think you got to take advantage of the time you have, right?

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Because you don't have much of it actually.

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It's not very much in the grand scheme of things.

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And it just sort of put me into this kind of plan of, okay, next year's coming.

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What are the things I want to do?

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Don't think about compensating for the things you didn't do this year or whatever.

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Just think about what's going to put your year more on track.

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I think that is the attitude that we should receive the passage of time with.

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We shouldn't take this as this omen of doom when the new year comes around.

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But I do think that...

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We can sort of, you know, take those emotions that it stares in us and sort of focus them
into an actual, you know, well, focus on action, redundancy, but yeah.

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I don't know if this makes sense.

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Well, yeah, but I'm kind of listening to it from my own experience and my own observation
that, you know, obviously many people, whether they talk about it openly or not, kind of

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react on some level to a new year.

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in kind of take an inventory of what happened in the last 365 days and or take inventory
and going where do I want to go with this going forward?

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And there's people who give a lot of thought to it.

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Some people give almost none, but that's often associated with New Year's.

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I think there's often sadness about it rather than anticipation.

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and.

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And it's interesting, you know, because when I was younger, I thought this whole thing
about New Year's resolutions was really helpful.

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And I used to, every New Year, I actually sat down.

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I personally, I'm sure there's other people too, I sat down and wrote about...

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what I want to accomplish in the coming year.

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I thought that was would be a helpful thing to keep me on target.

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But, like the gymnasiums, everybody signs up in the beginning of January for the
gymnasiums.

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And that business knows something.

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Because I know people who work in that business is that there's a zillion people who are
signing up in January.

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But by

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In the February, 95 % of them.

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right?

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they make all their money signing people up in the beginning of January.

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We know that because I'm kind of a gym rat.

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And so I'd go to the gym and me and my buddies would always laugh at all the people coming
in.

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We knew that every first week in January.

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It'd be like 10 times as many people.

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But we all knew that almost none of them would stay.

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And there's always every year maybe one or two would stay, you know.

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And it...

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It kind of goes to the, this strategy, know, talking about some of the.

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concepts involved with the warrior saint ideal of Guru Gobind Singh.

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Something I really relate to is that really the well, it's based on living a very high
character, virtuous life, very noble life, which involves many qualities, many, many

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virtues, you know, to live the noble life.

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But

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The one virtue that always kind of appears, you know, when everything is sifted out and it
kind of, the cream rises to the top, is that the most common uh virtue that's talked about

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is commitment.

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people making an effort to get together with family for things like Christmas, people
making New Year's resolutions.

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They're all kind of in somehow in the family of commitment.

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So everybody, even people who are not that committed, kind of realize that that's...

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good thing to do, they don't know quite how to go about doing it, even though they can
recognize that it's very valuable, you know.

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So the people are signing up to be in the gym, so they're committing themselves to getting
in shape for the new year, right?

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Which lasts usually two weeks.

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And so I've had my adventures with commitment in my life, and it's always held like a
central place in my life.

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walking on the path of Guru Gobind Singh and the path of the Khalsa, really you're trying
to improve that virtue in particular.

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You're trying to become a more more committed person because there's some faith there that
if I really master this virtue, that this will...

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open up the gates, you know, sort of speak to heaven.

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know, this is that everything can be accomplished directly or indirectly by mastering the
virtue of commitment.

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So at the new year, everybody kind of kind of knows that that's a really good thing to do
is to commit in the beginning of the year.

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But the question is, is it if all these people are committing in the beginning of the
year, why is it that they basically

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97 % of them actually within two weeks have already forgotten what they've committed to,
let alone actually accomplish it.

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You know, so they said, I'm going to do this, but they basically abandoned that pretty
quickly.

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Yeah, not everybody, but most people.

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So it's not like they don't see value in being a committed.

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living a committed life, like having New Year's resolutions and planning I'm going to do
this.

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So even on a very pragmatic level, they see value in this.

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OK, but it lands up that they're only able to kind of hold on to that for a couple of
weeks.

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Or I'm doing a wedding and in every wedding everybody on paper, you know, theoretically
thinks I'm...

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I'm signing on for the long haul.

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I'm gonna commit to this relationship for life.

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And I'm having this event to basically publicly state this, that this is something that is
an honorable goal, that that's a good goal to commit your life to make a life with another

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person.

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And you're gonna keep that.

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But we know that the divorce rate's probably at least 50%.

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So at least half the people have not, without assigning blame, at least half those people
weren't able to complete that commitment, even in some cases for very long.

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And so it would seem to me that...

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The intention, I think, is sincere, but the strategy's not too good.

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And they actually don't know how to do it.

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uh

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I think it's largely a matter of strategy.

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Yeah, I do.

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yeah, that it's a matter of strategy, the ability to actually complete the intention, not
just with commitment, but with anything.

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So in other words, you want something to happen, right?

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And the question is, at the end,

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I mean, so you want something to happen at this point in time, right?

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And now we're like 50 years later, whatever it is.

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And the question is, did it happen?

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So, I really wanted to be rich, but you know, I'm, I'm poor.

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How did that happen?

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I wanted to be this.

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I wanted to be that.

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I wanted to be with this person and whatever.

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So

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At the beginning of the year, I'm writing down, this is what I want to do this year.

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But then it's a year later, if I actually looked at this piece of paper, I actually didn't
accomplish any of the things that I said that I was going to do.

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So without feeling bad about myself, how is it that I decided that I was going to
accomplish this in this year?

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And within weeks or maybe days of making that intention to myself or to other people, I
basically abandoned it.

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And I would say that it has to do with the strategy of being successfully committed.

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That nobody taught any...

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People are telling people that commitment

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is a valuable tool, right?

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But they don't actually teach people how to be committed because they're not committed
themselves.

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So there's not that many people, like for instance, in my lifetime, it's actually been
rare that I have met a person that I have perceived has been super committed.

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Okay.

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And

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has achieved that.

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And it's the thing that I'm the most ambitious to be, is to be a person of commitment.

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I actually personally want to master that virtue.

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And I'll do anything in my life to give myself the opportunity to master the virtue of
commitment.

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So for me, it's very conscious, it's a very conscious decision.

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and intention.

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it's not just that, okay, I'm committing to own a factory in the next year, whatever.

214
00:20:14,521 --> 00:20:21,803
It's like I'm actually more interested in the commitment itself than the goal.

215
00:20:22,663 --> 00:20:34,897
You know, so the end result, because assuming that I achieve what I put my mind to and my
energy to, then it's not like

216
00:20:34,897 --> 00:20:36,128
That's the end of my life.

217
00:20:36,128 --> 00:20:39,849
I'm still on the planet, so I'm going to commit to something else.

218
00:20:40,610 --> 00:20:44,931
So my life is nothing but a series of commitments.

219
00:20:45,512 --> 00:20:46,602
That's all my life is.

220
00:20:46,602 --> 00:20:49,553
I'm committing to this, I achieve that, I commit to that.

221
00:20:49,553 --> 00:20:57,197
And uh there's a flow to this that all of these things are actually going in a certain
collective direction.

222
00:20:57,197 --> 00:21:02,873
So I understand that people decide in the beginning of the year what they're going to put
their energy to, but

223
00:21:02,873 --> 00:21:10,249
Nobody's actually told them how to do that, how to actually be, how to, what are the tools
of being committed?

224
00:21:10,249 --> 00:21:23,589
And so these new year's resolutions actually in general, they may work for some people,
but they generally don't is because all that they are, are kind of a well-intentioned,

225
00:21:23,589 --> 00:21:25,930
self talk, but

226
00:21:26,050 --> 00:21:28,830
they really don't know still how to do it.

227
00:21:28,830 --> 00:21:31,770
Okay, so there's things they have to do.

228
00:21:31,770 --> 00:21:36,750
They don't know the building blocks of what's actually involved.

229
00:21:37,270 --> 00:21:48,690
so, so that is, and then, you know, I think that some of the people who are disappointed
and a little depressed at the end of the year,

230
00:21:49,691 --> 00:21:54,455
they are subconsciously disappointed about where their life is at.

231
00:21:54,455 --> 00:21:56,937
And the year kind of marks it here.

232
00:21:56,937 --> 00:22:04,021
I'm at the end of another year and I'm still not where I want to be in life.

233
00:22:04,021 --> 00:22:12,686
OK, so I'm going I'm going to make a resolution that this year is going to be different.

234
00:22:13,827 --> 00:22:16,068
But usually that's not enough.

235
00:22:17,064 --> 00:22:19,711
You know, they still don't have a strategy.

236
00:22:21,488 --> 00:22:22,530
Right.

237
00:22:23,456 --> 00:22:25,234
Yeah, no, no, no, no, no.

238
00:22:25,875 --> 00:22:43,424
part of being a cult suffer instance is that we understand from the person who put this
way of life out, Guru Gobind Singh, is that there is actually a way to train yourself.

239
00:22:43,745 --> 00:22:47,507
You know, it's not like, you know, it's not a matter of belief.

240
00:22:47,507 --> 00:22:52,389
is a real difference is that unlike

241
00:22:53,945 --> 00:22:57,086
some other religions and I'm not criticizing any other religions.

242
00:22:57,086 --> 00:23:03,528
I'm just kind of making a philosophical statement is that it's not a matter of faith.

243
00:23:03,528 --> 00:23:04,676
It's just not a matter of faith.

244
00:23:04,676 --> 00:23:07,057
It's just not a matter of like, I believe something.

245
00:23:07,057 --> 00:23:10,089
So everything is going to be okay.

246
00:23:10,930 --> 00:23:20,412
And, the Chinese, when you're in China, the Chinese talk about that as magical thinking
and it's not hard.

247
00:23:20,412 --> 00:23:20,882
Yeah.

248
00:23:20,882 --> 00:23:23,553
The term magical thinking, which is

249
00:23:24,613 --> 00:23:28,355
not hard to argue with that some of this stuff is magical thinking.

250
00:23:28,355 --> 00:23:28,855
Okay.

251
00:23:28,855 --> 00:23:40,732
It's not like I don't have faith in God and things like that because I do, you know, but
there's this thought that if I just believe something that everything is magically going

252
00:23:40,732 --> 00:23:48,096
to be, but it's, I think it's more nuanced than that because I think that's in a very, a
very necessary piece.

253
00:23:48,096 --> 00:23:53,884
I'm not denying that, but you kind of have to train yourself

254
00:23:53,884 --> 00:23:55,962
to be a certain caliber of person.

255
00:23:55,962 --> 00:23:57,402
And so...

256
00:23:59,429 --> 00:24:10,656
On this path, we're taught how to train ourselves to be successful, meaning that we're
going to accomplish what we want to do.

257
00:24:10,656 --> 00:24:19,801
We don't have to be sad because we're actually going to accomplish it and we are not going
to have any excuses, not to ourselves or other people, because we're actually going to

258
00:24:19,801 --> 00:24:20,881
come through.

259
00:24:20,963 --> 00:24:22,755
So it's not like a resolution.

260
00:24:22,755 --> 00:24:28,874
I was talking to somebody the other day and they were quite overweight.

261
00:24:30,136 --> 00:24:38,748
So they're telling me that they made a New Year's resolution to lose all this weight.

262
00:24:41,008 --> 00:24:44,976
So I said, how many years have you made that resolution?

263
00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:48,054
And they're going, I make that resolution every year.

264
00:24:48,054 --> 00:24:50,008
I said, but you're still overweight.

265
00:24:51,339 --> 00:24:54,888
Right, bit harsh, I gotta say.

266
00:24:54,888 --> 00:25:03,574
Uh, yeah, but, with nothing but a smile on my face and love in my heart, actually, I just,
I'm not, I'm not saying it critically.

267
00:25:03,574 --> 00:25:07,526
I'm not saying it condescendingly, right?

268
00:25:07,947 --> 00:25:14,471
I'm just stating something kindly with a smile on my face and shrugging my shoulders.

269
00:25:14,471 --> 00:25:19,368
And really what I'm saying is, I feel you, but your strategy is not working.

270
00:25:20,797 --> 00:25:21,378
Right.

271
00:25:21,378 --> 00:25:24,660
And basically the proof is in your belt size, right?

272
00:25:26,317 --> 00:25:29,449
That it doesn't mean you're a bad human being.

273
00:25:29,449 --> 00:25:44,143
It just means that your strategy is every year promising to yourself something and getting
increasingly frustrated because, but you keep doing the same thing and you haven't lost

274
00:25:44,143 --> 00:25:45,133
anything.

275
00:25:45,274 --> 00:25:45,754
Okay.

276
00:25:45,754 --> 00:25:47,225
So I'm not saying you shouldn't lose weight.

277
00:25:47,225 --> 00:25:48,356
I'm just saying that

278
00:25:48,356 --> 00:25:57,536
The strategy of making a New Year's resolution has proven to be empty because you're still
heavy, too heavy.

279
00:25:57,536 --> 00:25:58,536
All right.

280
00:25:58,696 --> 00:26:08,056
So they asked me an interesting question because they actually weren't upset at me because
they could see that I'm not coming from a place of criticism.

281
00:26:08,596 --> 00:26:13,316
I'm coming from a place of, and I'm not even coming from a place of sympathy.

282
00:26:13,896 --> 00:26:14,576
Okay.

283
00:26:14,576 --> 00:26:17,496
I'm just coming from a place of humor.

284
00:26:17,610 --> 00:26:20,221
and irony, okay?

285
00:26:20,221 --> 00:26:22,101
And we're people.

286
00:26:22,101 --> 00:26:26,352
So yeah, yeah, it doesn't mean that they're a bad person.

287
00:26:26,352 --> 00:26:32,744
It doesn't mean that they're, I mean, it just like, you know, I see your strategy and your
strategy's not working.

288
00:26:32,744 --> 00:26:38,306
So if plan A's not working, how about going to plan B, right?

289
00:26:39,186 --> 00:26:46,966
So the person was kind of acknowledged that what I was saying was true because they could
see there was no

290
00:26:46,966 --> 00:26:52,969
animosity behind my comments, but they're going, then what should I do?

291
00:26:55,071 --> 00:26:57,653
I said, that's an easy one.

292
00:26:57,653 --> 00:26:59,097
Just lose the weight.

293
00:27:00,674 --> 00:27:06,419
And they're going, well, I don't know how.

294
00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:08,421
I'm going, yes, you do.

295
00:27:09,112 --> 00:27:10,363
Of course you do.

296
00:27:10,483 --> 00:27:11,584
Eat less.

297
00:27:13,468 --> 00:27:18,168
You know, this reminds me of this...

298
00:27:18,168 --> 00:27:21,828
It was a post on Twitter or something like that, I believe.

299
00:27:21,828 --> 00:27:27,088
It was a conversation between, I think it was a mother and her child.

300
00:27:27,688 --> 00:27:40,372
And the kid said something like, when I grow up, I want to be an astronaut, a
paleontologist, and I don't know, a scientist or something like that.

301
00:27:40,496 --> 00:27:43,064
And the mom goes, well you gotta study a lot for that.

302
00:27:43,064 --> 00:27:45,651
And she goes, yeah but it's just three things.

303
00:27:47,344 --> 00:27:56,565
you know and it's like as you say sometimes it's like it's just the thing it's simple you
know know you know where it goes it's just you're beating around the bush

304
00:27:56,565 --> 00:28:11,617
you know, you, I think that you just mentioned knowingly or unknowingly one of the
foundational principles of how to actually be a committed person that people don't pay

305
00:28:11,617 --> 00:28:13,038
enough attention to.

306
00:28:13,038 --> 00:28:16,240
And of course we're around a lot of people.

307
00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:24,493
who their energy and their attention is so dispersed.

308
00:28:25,557 --> 00:28:29,204
And there's a time for that if you want to just get.

309
00:28:30,988 --> 00:28:34,028
comparative information so you can make a choice.

310
00:28:34,028 --> 00:28:38,610
But at some point, a committed person chooses one thing.

311
00:28:40,568 --> 00:28:46,888
one person, one career, one, you know, they're not distracted.

312
00:28:46,888 --> 00:28:59,548
So you can have various interests as a committed person, as I do, but all those interests
have to serve your singular purpose.

313
00:29:00,108 --> 00:29:04,328
So you can have all this, but everything's got to be going in the same direction.

314
00:29:04,328 --> 00:29:06,228
Very few people have mastered that.

315
00:29:06,228 --> 00:29:10,519
In fact, people who tend to have all these interests

316
00:29:10,519 --> 00:29:19,319
tend to be very frustrated, unsuccessful people because their mind is going in all these
different directions.

317
00:29:19,379 --> 00:29:25,879
They don't want to have to give any of their interests up.

318
00:29:27,279 --> 00:29:38,559
But that is actually incorrect thinking because nobody is suggesting they have to give up
even one of them.

319
00:29:38,559 --> 00:29:40,321
Even if they want to.

320
00:29:40,321 --> 00:29:48,321
about, like, sorry to interrupt you there, but it's about integrating them all rather than
just giving them up.

321
00:29:48,757 --> 00:29:52,800
Which is a very calc way of looking at things.

322
00:29:53,621 --> 00:30:05,210
That's what that's what it is that you're you're focused on what you know you need to do
what you were sent here to do and you could take all these things and they can serve you

323
00:30:05,210 --> 00:30:08,042
accomplishing what you were sent here in life to do.

324
00:30:08,042 --> 00:30:14,056
Or it could that kind of thinking can be used to lose weight.

325
00:30:14,606 --> 00:30:23,710
It's just kind of like my objective is to lose weight and I can mobilize anything that I
know about towards that end.

326
00:30:23,710 --> 00:30:35,485
But at the end of the day, you, to be a committed person, you have to merge yourself with
the achievement itself.

327
00:30:36,145 --> 00:30:39,478
Meaning if you decide to lose weight,

328
00:30:40,076 --> 00:30:41,418
It's already done.

329
00:30:41,681 --> 00:30:46,973
It's already done because you're not actually going to accept any other out.

330
00:30:49,110 --> 00:30:49,966
Right.

331
00:30:50,744 --> 00:30:52,095
It's a way of thinking.

332
00:30:52,095 --> 00:31:00,759
So if you doubt it even a little, if you let doubt come in, then you're undermining your
objective.

333
00:31:00,759 --> 00:31:02,289
Cause that's all that doubt does.

334
00:31:02,289 --> 00:31:14,499
If you decide that this is what I am going to accomplish, whatever that is, then you have
to train yourself as a warrior saint in this case.

335
00:31:14,499 --> 00:31:26,101
That's like being a warrior saint is you have to train yourself that whatever comes out of
your mouth, will come to be because you said it.

336
00:31:26,101 --> 00:31:33,381
So if I say, I'm gonna lose 20 pounds, you can consider that done because I said it.

337
00:31:33,381 --> 00:31:37,192
And there is no way in my life

338
00:31:37,192 --> 00:31:40,674
that I am not going to do what I say.

339
00:31:41,936 --> 00:31:44,618
And it has nothing to do with losing weight.

340
00:31:44,618 --> 00:31:54,086
It has to do with the fact that I honor my own word so much to myself that I'm not willing
to disrespect myself.

341
00:31:54,086 --> 00:32:02,280
If I said it, it's my responsibility to the sacredness of that word that I'm actually
going to accomplish this.

342
00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:04,044
Very few people think this way.

343
00:32:04,044 --> 00:32:09,313
Just making a resolution, I'm going to lose so many pounds, doesn't mean anything.

344
00:32:09,354 --> 00:32:14,693
What means something is if I actually say it, it has to happen.

345
00:32:15,292 --> 00:32:18,457
I do want to bring something into this.

346
00:32:18,457 --> 00:32:24,805
It's not a counter argument per se, but it's just like an observation about how these
things interact.

347
00:32:24,805 --> 00:32:32,683
Because you can very much set your mind to something and be absolutely 100 % focused and
decided on doing that.

348
00:32:35,101 --> 00:32:45,756
And then some life circumstance can come upon you and either derail or outright prevent
you from doing the thing.

349
00:32:47,782 --> 00:32:54,029
And you know, like, I wonder about, you know, what's the warrior saint take on this?

350
00:32:54,029 --> 00:33:01,655
You know, like when some like just this massive obstacle just comes and, you know, blocks
the railroads, so to speak.

351
00:33:02,154 --> 00:33:05,526
Well, I'm really glad you brought that up because...

352
00:33:07,378 --> 00:33:23,955
In the end, what I'm suggesting here is that to be a master of this virtue of commitment,
that you realize that it has many angles to itself.

353
00:33:24,315 --> 00:33:25,136
Okay.

354
00:33:25,136 --> 00:33:30,177
And so when I was talking about, I'm saying it.

355
00:33:30,198 --> 00:33:35,580
So my intention is that there's no way it's not going to happen.

356
00:33:36,044 --> 00:33:40,127
Okay, that's one necessary aspect of it.

357
00:33:41,027 --> 00:33:46,670
But there are other aspects to it and to totally master this virtue.

358
00:33:47,631 --> 00:33:53,274
You have to see things on many different levels and how they interact.

359
00:33:53,274 --> 00:34:04,019
Okay, and even sometimes how things could be opposite things that happen at the same time,
which is what people refer to as paradox.

360
00:34:04,019 --> 00:34:05,749
that things are paradoxical.

361
00:34:05,749 --> 00:34:09,910
How could it be this and this because these things seem to be opposite.

362
00:34:09,910 --> 00:34:16,592
But you have this mastered at such a level that you understand the different aspects.

363
00:34:16,592 --> 00:34:18,653
You understand the paradoxes.

364
00:34:18,653 --> 00:34:24,654
You understand this from every angle because you've mastered every angle of this virtue.

365
00:34:24,654 --> 00:34:31,117
So you bring up a really important point because these things do work together.

366
00:34:31,117 --> 00:34:32,897
So let's say

367
00:34:34,063 --> 00:34:38,354
that I am committed to an objective, all right?

368
00:34:38,354 --> 00:34:39,336
But.

369
00:34:40,338 --> 00:34:43,518
It's not just that I'm going to make it happen.

370
00:34:43,518 --> 00:35:01,359
Part of being a committed person, is that if you're by nature or by achievement, a very
committed human being, you need the ability of not only finishing what you started,

371
00:35:01,925 --> 00:35:06,018
you have to have the ability to commit to the right thing.

372
00:35:07,260 --> 00:35:07,880
Okay?

373
00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:18,910
So I could be committed, let's say I love that woman, I'm gonna marry that woman, nothing
is gonna stop me from marrying that woman.

374
00:35:19,351 --> 00:35:19,752
Okay?

375
00:35:19,752 --> 00:35:26,076
I can't imagine living without her and I'm gonna do whatever I can do to marry that woman.

376
00:35:26,357 --> 00:35:29,019
That's what a committed person...

377
00:35:29,052 --> 00:35:44,290
would say, but a really committed person would only commit to that woman if they
understood that that was the right commitment to make, not the wrong commitment.

378
00:35:44,290 --> 00:35:52,874
So in the end, lot of these commitments don't work out because God's protecting us.

379
00:35:53,555 --> 00:35:54,205
That

380
00:35:54,205 --> 00:35:59,757
Actually, I'm very committed, but I'm not committing to the conscious thing.

381
00:35:59,757 --> 00:36:01,568
I'm being led by my desires.

382
00:36:01,568 --> 00:36:07,021
So in other words, there's another part of me that is not sufficiently developed.

383
00:36:07,021 --> 00:36:19,606
So I'm very much into accomplishing what I put my mind to, but there's other aspects of my
being that are less developed and they're causing me.

384
00:36:19,606 --> 00:36:21,188
to not see things clearly.

385
00:36:21,188 --> 00:36:29,158
So even though I have the ability to finish the job, my actual reason for pursuing it is
full.

386
00:36:31,390 --> 00:36:35,911
And so that's not in the end going to work out.

387
00:36:35,951 --> 00:36:43,353
That's not going to work out because it's good that it doesn't work out even because it's
not meant to be.

388
00:36:43,533 --> 00:36:46,395
You may be heartbroken, but it's not meant to be.

389
00:36:46,395 --> 00:36:49,736
so commitment is like a state of mind.

390
00:36:49,736 --> 00:36:58,954
It's a state of being that you're going to finish what you start that you're going to do
what you say, but

391
00:36:59,002 --> 00:37:08,636
If you're not sufficiently developed as a person, your choices are going to be, as they
say in Spanish, chueca.

392
00:37:09,157 --> 00:37:13,008
That, which means crooked, means crooked.

393
00:37:13,008 --> 00:37:25,564
So you're very passionate and you're throwing everything into accomplishing something, but
the object of your energy is not well placed.

394
00:37:26,067 --> 00:37:29,538
In fact, in some cases, it is self-destructive.

395
00:37:30,159 --> 00:37:47,585
And so to really be like the highest model of commitment, you would also have to have the
wisdom to commit to the proper thing because we know you can accomplish it, you know?

396
00:37:47,585 --> 00:37:55,844
And so for instance, we know in the world there are people who are very successful and
have

397
00:37:55,844 --> 00:38:00,206
actually accomplished what they put their mind to.

398
00:38:00,407 --> 00:38:07,771
But what they put their mind to was actually destructive to other human beings and to
themselves.

399
00:38:08,212 --> 00:38:15,603
So they had the ability, yeah, well, we know, we don't even have to talk about politics
here because we can easily.

400
00:38:15,603 --> 00:38:16,823
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

401
00:38:18,014 --> 00:38:30,372
Right, right, right, but generally speaking, politics would be a good area to describe
people who nobody can deny that they've actually achieved something that only could be

402
00:38:30,372 --> 00:38:36,856
achieved with like absolute commitment to that goal, okay?

403
00:38:36,856 --> 00:38:44,460
But it'll land up that even if they get what they want, they're gonna be of great harm to
themselves and to others.

404
00:38:44,977 --> 00:38:52,482
Okay, so I consider that to be a committed person, but only in one aspect of what it is to
be committed.

405
00:38:52,482 --> 00:38:59,426
Because a truly committed person actually makes the correct choices about what to be
committed to.

406
00:38:59,526 --> 00:39:08,991
Because it's dangerous to have the ability to achieve whatever you put your mind to if you
put your mind to destructive things.

407
00:39:10,386 --> 00:39:14,519
You know, this is a very rich point you're bringing here.

408
00:39:14,519 --> 00:39:22,625
And in fact, I want to bring something from a little bit back in the conversation because
I think like we can sort of integrate this.

409
00:39:22,625 --> 00:39:34,445
Earlier, you were talking about, you know, these cases of people like this dispersed
interests and how the ideal thing is not to give them up or to switch them out for other

410
00:39:34,445 --> 00:39:35,295
things.

411
00:39:35,295 --> 00:39:39,197
but to find a way to integrate them into a single thing.

412
00:39:39,197 --> 00:39:53,182
And I think that is actually, and I'm sorry if I'm like just repeating something you said,
but that actually facilitates commitment, you know, because I'm going to give you a

413
00:39:53,182 --> 00:39:55,783
personal example, if I may here.

414
00:39:55,783 --> 00:40:02,950
Like I started teaching some several years ago, teaching English.

415
00:40:02,950 --> 00:40:11,225
started when I was 18 years old and I got the opportunity to do it at the institute where
I studied English myself.

416
00:40:13,009 --> 00:40:21,547
And the thing about the job is that it got me the chance to bring together a lot of things
that I am already into.

417
00:40:21,547 --> 00:40:23,439
Like, I love talking with people.

418
00:40:23,439 --> 00:40:28,262
love, you know, discussing several different areas of knowledge.

419
00:40:28,262 --> 00:40:30,785
You know it, we talk about all sorts of things here.

420
00:40:30,785 --> 00:40:31,635
I love reading.

421
00:40:31,635 --> 00:40:32,646
I love literature.

422
00:40:32,646 --> 00:40:34,107
ah I love music.

423
00:40:34,107 --> 00:40:35,428
I love the arts.

424
00:40:35,428 --> 00:40:38,640
You know, I did a bit of theater as well, you know, so.

425
00:40:38,736 --> 00:40:52,041
like teaching gave me a sort of opportunity to take all of these sort of disparate areas
and interests and bring them together into a single thing through which I make a living

426
00:40:52,041 --> 00:40:56,972
and also provide something of value to other people as well.

427
00:40:56,972 --> 00:41:03,034
And that has actually made it very easy to be committed to the idea of being a teacher.

428
00:41:03,034 --> 00:41:04,850
you know, because it just like,

429
00:41:04,850 --> 00:41:11,582
it just everything fits together very well and the end result is good so I would

430
00:41:11,582 --> 00:41:12,573
a great point.

431
00:41:12,573 --> 00:41:13,604
That's a great.

432
00:41:13,604 --> 00:41:19,470
Now I'm only interrupting because I, I'm afraid of going over that.

433
00:41:19,470 --> 00:41:20,150
Right.

434
00:41:20,150 --> 00:41:37,195
Because I think that you bring up a brilliant point that people don't understand is that
in the end, it's hard to give what's necessary for a very big commitment, unless it's very

435
00:41:37,195 --> 00:41:38,626
important for you.

436
00:41:40,134 --> 00:41:44,154
and it's healthy and make you happy.

437
00:41:44,535 --> 00:41:58,875
The bigger the goal that you're aiming for by definition will require more commitment if
it's very easily achievable goal.

438
00:41:59,205 --> 00:42:01,156
and it's not worth much.

439
00:42:02,906 --> 00:42:06,409
then it doesn't require that much commitment.

440
00:42:06,409 --> 00:42:18,962
But if it's a very big goal that has huge implications that will be very challenging and
there's many obstacles, it'll require more commitment because you're facing more

441
00:42:18,962 --> 00:42:19,643
obstacles.

442
00:42:19,643 --> 00:42:22,755
But if the end game

443
00:42:24,733 --> 00:42:35,333
is so nutritive to your existence, you'll be willing to do it.

444
00:42:35,454 --> 00:42:41,299
So we know from personal experience that the

445
00:42:41,839 --> 00:42:49,958
The bigger the goal, usually the more obstacles, the more obstacles, the more commitment,
the more grit, the more...

446
00:42:51,574 --> 00:42:54,025
tenacity it will require.

447
00:42:54,769 --> 00:43:01,661
more willpower, willpower is needed because the obstacle, the enemy is more more fierce.

448
00:43:01,661 --> 00:43:06,682
The bigger the goal is more to really apply yourself to, you know?

449
00:43:06,682 --> 00:43:20,817
So it's much less likely that people are going to be willing to sacrifice greatly for
something that's not that of that much reward to their soul.

450
00:43:21,484 --> 00:43:26,624
you'll hear people say they have somebody's got commitment issues.

451
00:43:26,984 --> 00:43:27,984
OK.

452
00:43:28,618 --> 00:43:30,079
You'll hear that at least in English.

453
00:43:30,079 --> 00:43:32,570
have, oh, they have issues with commitment.

454
00:43:32,570 --> 00:43:34,930
That's why they're not married.

455
00:43:35,971 --> 00:43:37,121
That's why they're not married.

456
00:43:37,121 --> 00:43:38,453
They've got commitment issues.

457
00:43:38,453 --> 00:43:43,565
Or the person doesn't, they're not a committed, you don't trust them.

458
00:43:43,565 --> 00:43:45,316
They're not a committed person.

459
00:43:46,816 --> 00:43:48,337
Okay, you hear that?

460
00:43:48,657 --> 00:43:54,783
Yeah, but I've realized that neither of those things are true, that they don't exist, that
they're just imaginary.

461
00:43:54,783 --> 00:43:58,025
There's no such thing as an uncommitted person.

462
00:43:58,025 --> 00:44:05,270
There's no person on the planet who has commitment issues, that it's totally imagined.

463
00:44:05,270 --> 00:44:06,951
It doesn't exist.

464
00:44:08,173 --> 00:44:10,215
what lacks is...

465
00:44:11,319 --> 00:44:13,121
what do people value?

466
00:44:13,121 --> 00:44:15,145
So in other words, I know this.

467
00:44:15,145 --> 00:44:25,900
I've learned this, a very good example is that I know people who, the thing they get the
most enjoyment in in life is going out drinking with their friends.

468
00:44:26,021 --> 00:44:27,642
That's a fact.

469
00:44:27,696 --> 00:44:31,095
very committed to going out to the bar with their friends.

470
00:44:31,095 --> 00:44:44,683
every Friday night you can find them in the bar and they're actually committed to being in
the bar with their friends drinking because that's where they get their pleasure and

471
00:44:44,683 --> 00:44:48,966
there's nothing that's going to keep them from not being in the bar on Friday.

472
00:44:50,387 --> 00:44:52,698
Right, it is a commitment.

473
00:44:52,698 --> 00:44:59,602
I'm just using this as an example is that it's not, it's not just that people aren't
committed.

474
00:44:59,602 --> 00:45:14,123
It's that like what you said is that there's not clarity what they're willing to sacrifice
for, what they're willing to basically defer their pleasure for.

475
00:45:14,223 --> 00:45:17,325
So what is it that they're committing to?

476
00:45:17,465 --> 00:45:18,166
Okay.

477
00:45:18,166 --> 00:45:19,106
So

478
00:45:19,356 --> 00:45:25,871
and how to achieve them because it's pretty easy just to go to the bar every Friday night.

479
00:45:25,871 --> 00:45:28,113
That doesn't take a lot of commitment.

480
00:45:28,113 --> 00:45:29,054
Okay.

481
00:45:29,054 --> 00:45:42,614
But if they're deciding that they don't have a job and they actually want to own a bar and
they want the bar to be the most successful bar in that city, okay, that takes a lot more

482
00:45:42,614 --> 00:45:43,745
commitment.

483
00:45:44,346 --> 00:45:44,766
Okay.

484
00:45:44,766 --> 00:45:48,829
There's a lot more obstacles than that than just going every Friday night.

485
00:45:48,829 --> 00:45:50,009
to the bar.

486
00:45:50,030 --> 00:46:05,263
So people are committed in certain ways to certain things, but to really commit yourself
to something that's a very big goal, which will ask a lot of you.

487
00:46:05,964 --> 00:46:11,428
If you're a master of commitment, you know the price you're going to have to pay.

488
00:46:11,709 --> 00:46:17,613
You're conscious, you know, if you're a very committed person, you always know what the
price is.

489
00:46:18,197 --> 00:46:24,142
Okay, and you don't make that promise unless you're willing to pay that price.

490
00:46:25,324 --> 00:46:32,449
But you know that before you even make the purchase, you know, okay, I'm going to, I'm
going to commit to this.

491
00:46:32,449 --> 00:46:36,112
It's a very high goal, very high goal.

492
00:46:36,553 --> 00:46:37,844
I know what the price is.

493
00:46:37,844 --> 00:46:39,675
I know what I may lose.

494
00:46:40,096 --> 00:46:45,180
I may lose things that are precious to me, but I'm going to make that purchase.

495
00:46:45,180 --> 00:46:45,985
I'm going to

496
00:46:45,985 --> 00:46:49,588
by that, I'm going to do whatever I have to do to get that.

497
00:46:49,588 --> 00:46:55,313
So it's got to be worth it to me to sacrifice that much for that object.

498
00:46:55,313 --> 00:46:55,754
Right.

499
00:46:55,754 --> 00:47:06,282
And so in the end of a person is a very conscious person and is sufficiently evolved as a
human being.

500
00:47:06,602 --> 00:47:10,305
They would also by implication.

501
00:47:12,376 --> 00:47:18,407
understand the value to them of something that they would sacrifice something for.

502
00:47:18,407 --> 00:47:21,068
it basically good for their body?

503
00:47:21,068 --> 00:47:22,809
Is it good for their emotions?

504
00:47:22,809 --> 00:47:24,649
Is it good for their soul?

505
00:47:25,649 --> 00:47:34,962
Okay, a person's not conscious, the average person, let's say, let's say they're very
committed, far as making just money, okay, which is fine.

506
00:47:34,962 --> 00:47:40,613
I'm not making a value judgment, but let's say they're only conscious, they want to get
money,

507
00:47:41,097 --> 00:47:43,378
and they want as much money as they can.

508
00:47:43,817 --> 00:47:47,530
And they're willing to break the law even to do it if they have to.

509
00:47:47,530 --> 00:47:50,541
All right?

510
00:47:50,541 --> 00:48:05,650
Because they, from some experience in their life, they have this hope or belief that when
they reach that goal, when they've accumulated so much of these financial resources, that

511
00:48:05,650 --> 00:48:08,853
they're going to feel a type of euphoria.

512
00:48:08,853 --> 00:48:10,844
that's worth their efforts.

513
00:48:11,886 --> 00:48:17,390
That the money will give them a certain euphoria, okay?

514
00:48:17,390 --> 00:48:29,570
And that they value the euphoria of feeling whatever that feels like, that they're willing
to pay whatever price, even if it means selling their soul to the devil, as they say, to

515
00:48:29,570 --> 00:48:32,483
get it, because they want that euphoria.

516
00:48:32,483 --> 00:48:36,773
So people are committed to things, but they're not always the right things.

517
00:48:36,773 --> 00:48:50,647
I guess going back to your original challenging question, which was a good one, is that
you're implicating the question of not just the ability of a person to accomplish

518
00:48:50,647 --> 00:48:59,624
something, which is the common knowledge of commitment, but I am suggesting a much deeper
definition of commitment.

519
00:48:59,624 --> 00:49:11,131
including many aspects that we haven't even talked about, but one of the key aspects is
the ability of a committed person to commit to the right things that are going to be

520
00:49:11,131 --> 00:49:21,687
healthy to their being, their health, their spiritual well-being, their psychological
well-being, and also will be a benefit to those around them.

521
00:49:22,888 --> 00:49:25,538
So that's part of the equation.

522
00:49:25,538 --> 00:49:32,374
thought, I was just going to say we're talking about, you know, in synthesis applying
discernment to commit.

523
00:49:34,754 --> 00:49:39,757
Even more than that, that it's all part of the same thing.

524
00:49:39,757 --> 00:49:41,818
That that's part of commitment.

525
00:49:41,818 --> 00:49:50,902
Part of commitment is naturally committing to things that are worth committing to.

526
00:49:51,564 --> 00:49:52,648
Right.

527
00:49:52,836 --> 00:49:53,574
Right.

528
00:49:53,574 --> 00:49:57,914
But that involves integration.

529
00:49:58,915 --> 00:50:08,175
Maybe you're right using the word applying discernment, again, getting back to a word used
before, it really involves integration.

530
00:50:08,635 --> 00:50:18,955
That if you're a very committed person, you're aware of how other virtues interplay with
the virtue of commitment.

531
00:50:19,005 --> 00:50:20,946
So that's at your disposal.

532
00:50:20,946 --> 00:50:30,519
You realize that that commitment, raw commitment by itself is actually dangerous.

533
00:50:31,920 --> 00:50:35,462
It's out and out dangerous because you have the ability.

534
00:50:35,462 --> 00:50:36,942
It's like amoral.

535
00:50:36,942 --> 00:50:45,946
It's like you're talking about amoral, not immoral, not bad, amoral that basically

536
00:50:45,946 --> 00:50:52,088
you're applying your ability to have that level of willpower.

537
00:50:52,888 --> 00:50:53,429
Okay.

538
00:50:53,429 --> 00:51:02,192
And you could apply that to something that is very helpful to you and everyone around you.

539
00:51:03,413 --> 00:51:10,397
Or you can apply that same willpower to something that could destroy other people's lives
and your own life.

540
00:51:10,397 --> 00:51:18,806
it into, you know what, like it's always bringing films to mind, but have you seen
Scarface with Al Pacino?

541
00:51:19,118 --> 00:51:19,965
Yes.

542
00:51:20,526 --> 00:51:31,754
I think Starface is an excellent example of a story of a protagonist with absolutely
incredible willpower applied to the worst possible thing that he could apply that

543
00:51:31,754 --> 00:51:36,048
willpower to because the guy gets everything he wants.

544
00:51:36,048 --> 00:51:37,870
He gets everything, you know.

545
00:51:37,870 --> 00:51:45,366
But it destroys him completely and his family and he brings nothing but ruin to everything
around himself.

546
00:51:45,818 --> 00:51:49,234
But he got everything he wanted.

547
00:51:50,042 --> 00:52:02,138
Well, you know, it's interesting that it is a good place for us to end today because I
think there's going to be many future conversations that land us in the commitment

548
00:52:02,578 --> 00:52:06,900
stadium, so to speak, because that's where we play the game, you know.

549
00:52:06,900 --> 00:52:10,082
But I'll end this talking about your thought.

550
00:52:10,082 --> 00:52:12,843
as we've done, basically, this is about New Year.

551
00:52:12,843 --> 00:52:17,865
Basically, this is where you had brought up New Year's resolutions and

552
00:52:17,979 --> 00:52:23,192
And so you can see that it connects to the base of what we're foundation.

553
00:52:23,552 --> 00:52:29,055
It still goes back to commitment is that I have known people in the mafia.

554
00:52:29,195 --> 00:52:30,235
Okay.

555
00:52:30,496 --> 00:52:31,516
Okay.

556
00:52:31,516 --> 00:52:33,317
I know people in all walks of life.

557
00:52:33,317 --> 00:52:35,230
I'm very outgoing person.

558
00:52:35,230 --> 00:52:46,256
So I landed up tripping over just about anything and including I I've known people in the
mafia and what I've been and I was surprised back then but now I'm not surprised now is

559
00:52:46,256 --> 00:52:46,986
that

560
00:52:47,904 --> 00:52:53,719
And I think some of the people in the mafia were even surprised in how much they admired
me.

561
00:52:53,719 --> 00:53:02,726
Because I actually got a lot of positive feedback from people in the mafia, people looking
up to me, right?

562
00:53:02,826 --> 00:53:07,330
Because they viewed me as being a really committed person.

563
00:53:08,785 --> 00:53:11,350
which is a good trade for a mafioso.

564
00:53:12,112 --> 00:53:26,860
Right, but they had, and I think that's true, although they may have had a more limited
view of what that word means than I do, but we were in agreement with at least one

565
00:53:26,860 --> 00:53:32,556
important aspect of it, and that is that you're gonna do what you say you're gonna do.

566
00:53:34,423 --> 00:53:47,126
and that you are who you say you are, and there's no misunderstanding about that, and you
will sacrifice, you're ready, willing, and able to sacrifice your own well-being, even

567
00:53:47,126 --> 00:53:53,883
your life, for whatever you're trying to achieve, and you understand what the cost is.

568
00:53:53,883 --> 00:53:59,682
They could see that in this way, I thought very much like they did, and that I was a
very...

569
00:53:59,682 --> 00:54:05,340
actually a very good role model for what they basically would teach in their own troops.

570
00:54:06,288 --> 00:54:08,159
Wow, right.

571
00:54:08,319 --> 00:54:15,135
okay, but it's kind of a curiosity that I doing this in a very different way than they're
doing it.

572
00:54:15,135 --> 00:54:22,011
And even they could recognize that, but they had some grudging respect for this because
they couldn't deny it.

573
00:54:22,011 --> 00:54:29,898
And likewise, I admired that part of them that they were displaying that

574
00:54:30,031 --> 00:54:38,045
I could see that in a way, I could trust them in a way that I couldn't trust other people.

575
00:54:39,640 --> 00:54:42,320
even though their objectives were different.

576
00:54:42,420 --> 00:54:46,820
So I have a little more of a nuanced view of that.

577
00:54:47,060 --> 00:54:50,420
So it's not just that they're good or bad people.

578
00:54:50,420 --> 00:55:04,740
It's just kind of like, to me, they're actually, to get as far as they got to in their
chosen line of work, they had to actually be very committed people.

579
00:55:04,740 --> 00:55:08,976
And some of them actually are very religious, oddly enough.

580
00:55:09,832 --> 00:55:14,611
It's my understanding that a lot of guys go to church on Sunday.

581
00:55:14,997 --> 00:55:16,247
That's right.

582
00:55:16,528 --> 00:55:17,709
That's right.

583
00:55:17,709 --> 00:55:33,218
And to other people, it's very confusing, but it's not confusing to them because they
basically value respect, honor, commitment, the things that we're talking about within

584
00:55:33,218 --> 00:55:33,818
religion.

585
00:55:33,818 --> 00:55:40,601
So they actually see religion as confirming the human characteristics they value.

586
00:55:41,167 --> 00:55:50,552
And so this very much dovetails into your concern back in the conversation about really
kind of inferring.

587
00:55:50,552 --> 00:55:54,434
can be very committed, but what if you're committed to the wrong things?

588
00:55:54,434 --> 00:56:08,602
So I would say that I would agree that the people that we're talking about right now are
actually virtuous in some way, but there's something lacking there that

589
00:56:08,856 --> 00:56:18,804
makes it very hard for them to understand that the things that they are committed to are
not healthy for them personally or the people around them.

590
00:56:20,376 --> 00:56:34,021
so I would say that what we're really aiming for is a certain type of conscious and
refined sense of commitment, not just raw commitment, you know?

591
00:56:34,021 --> 00:56:47,326
And, and so this whole thing, when we talk about the Khalsa ideal is that commitment's a
very big thing, but it's really, in addition to that, it's kind of the

592
00:56:47,652 --> 00:56:53,269
intersection of many high human qualities that all work together.

593
00:56:54,759 --> 00:56:55,651
Right?

594
00:56:56,662 --> 00:56:57,161
Right.

595
00:56:57,161 --> 00:57:03,354
takes a tremendous amount of commitment to actually live commitment.

596
00:57:03,354 --> 00:57:06,455
it's like it's like a double injection of commitment.

597
00:57:06,455 --> 00:57:08,696
It's like you're committed to be committed.

598
00:57:08,976 --> 00:57:09,716
You're committed.

599
00:57:09,716 --> 00:57:11,497
You're committed to master.

600
00:57:11,497 --> 00:57:14,819
You're committed to be a master of commitment.

601
00:57:14,819 --> 00:57:22,373
And if you're a man of truly a master of commitment, then you are called so you're you're

602
00:57:22,373 --> 00:57:24,773
you're a saint in the truest example.

603
00:57:25,593 --> 00:57:27,753
And you have all these qualities.

604
00:57:28,233 --> 00:57:29,953
And that is a wrap.

605
00:57:30,412 --> 00:57:31,353
That's a wrap.

606
00:57:31,353 --> 00:57:32,673
Okay, so we land up here.

607
00:57:32,673 --> 00:57:37,293
Listen, there's so many things for us to talk about.

608
00:57:37,293 --> 00:57:48,453
And I'm glad we talked about this at the end of the year because it's a good conversation
revolving around really like the theme of resolutions, New Year's resolutions.

609
00:57:48,953 --> 00:57:55,042
and suggesting that they're okay, what's even better is actually doing something about it.

610
00:57:55,848 --> 00:57:58,448
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, there we go!

611
00:58:00,141 --> 00:58:01,655
Yeah, because you know,

612
00:58:03,167 --> 00:58:10,821
person who's really committed doesn't have to make any formal new year's resolution.

613
00:58:10,821 --> 00:58:15,754
They actually make a resolution every time they wake up in the morning.

614
00:58:16,494 --> 00:58:19,757
You know, it's no such thing as a new year's resolution.

615
00:58:19,757 --> 00:58:25,370
the first thing you have to do every day when you wake up is to remind yourself who you
are.

616
00:58:27,771 --> 00:58:28,464
you girl.

617
00:58:28,464 --> 00:58:33,775
if you don't, if that's not the first thing you do in the morning, then you can kiss that
day goodbye.

618
00:58:34,776 --> 00:58:40,199
Because you probably not be you that day, you'll probably be somebody else.

619
00:58:40,199 --> 00:58:48,702
But if the first thing you do in the morning is to remind yourself who you are, what
you're about, what you're committed to, which is all the same thing in the end of the day,

620
00:58:48,702 --> 00:58:50,663
that's probably going to be a very good day.

621
00:58:50,663 --> 00:58:52,924
Challenging, but productive.

622
00:58:54,528 --> 00:58:57,150
Anyhow, hey have a great new year.

623
00:58:57,902 --> 00:58:58,874
Yeah, for sure sir.

624
00:58:58,874 --> 00:59:01,401
You too have a very happy new year.

625
00:59:01,401 --> 00:59:07,276
Send my congratulations to your wife as well and we're going to be talking in a few days.

626
00:59:07,945 --> 00:59:09,499
Okay, love you very much.

627
00:59:09,499 --> 00:59:13,447
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.