Life is a Commitment

I sit here on New Year’s Day of 2026 and wonder what the new year holds for me. We all have the diet plan, the goal to read a few more books, less screen time, etc. But what does success mean for any of these? I would argue that these are failures from the start because of how we frame our goals, and I challenge you to a new way of thinking. It is not a “just get through one month” plan or a “number of books” plan. It is a lifestyle change and a commitment.

In 2023, I launched a cigar brand called Cigarist that sold hats and a gimmicky wristband designed to hold a cigar. I set up a website and ran a few self-produced advertisements. I made one sale to a supportive friend. I failed.

In 2025, I released a children’s book, Garrett’s Ventures. I set up a website and the blog you are reading now. I sold a hundred copies to supportive friends and family. The sales have since stopped, which I have to admit when asked. However, it is not a failure yet.

The older I get, and the more “businesses” I try to build, the more one thing keeps appearing: commitment. The cigar brand did not fail because it was gimmicky. Gimmicky products sell in the millions every day. It failed because of a lack of commitment. My book has not failed yet because I can still go out and sell through author visits, independent bookstore fairs, and similar events. But that requires commitment. I should commit harder to my business plans with a longer outlook, not a goal to release and pray something good happens.

To understand true commitment, we can look at Warren Buffett and his investment strategy. He only buys stocks that he understands and believes will be around for the next hundred years. Not a one-month investment plan or even a one-year plan. Why? Because he understands the power of compounding gains. What does a ten percent gain year after year look like? The investment doubles in about seven years and continues from there. His goal may be a certain annual return, but his commitment to owning a stock for decades is what made him Warren Buffett, one of the greatest investors of all time.

Matthew McConaughey won the Oscar for Best Actor in 2014 for Dallas Buyers Club. I did not understand his speech at the time, but for some reason it stuck with me, and I recommend everyone go watch it. He started by saying:

“I need three things each day: something to look up to (God), something to look forward to (family), and someone to chase (my hero).”

The interesting part was who his hero was. It was himself, ten years in the future. He envisioned who he wanted to be a decade from now.

“Every day, every week, every month of my life, my hero is always ten years away in my life. I am not going to tame that. I know I am not. I am fine with that because it keeps me with someone to keep on chasing.”

You already have commitment in your own life. You may have gone to college for four or five years. Graduating was not just a goal; it was a commitment that changed your life. You were chasing your future self with graduating in mind. The same is true for marriage, having kids, or buying a home. Those were goals, but the commitment was to your future self of becoming a better husband, wife, or parent every day. Goals are not bad. They are short-term milestones that help us stay committed to a longer journey.

The point of this reflection is not asking how you want to look or act one month into the new year. It is asking what you are doing every day to set yourself up for the next ten years. The question is not how am I going to lose ten pounds, but how am I going to lose thirty pounds and keep it off indefinitely for a healthier lifestyle. The goal is not to read five books this year; it is how am I going to change my lifestyle so that I read every day and transform my understanding of life over the next decade. Think bigger and longer.

Personally, I wanted to learn piano in 2025. I watched about ten lessons on YouTube and then stopped for no real reason. I ask myself, when I look back at 2025 in five or ten years, will I be happy that I sat in a hot tub, smoked cigars, and scrolled social media? No, I’m upset that I lost a year of life not learning a new skill. I lacked commitment. We want to appreciate ourselves in ten years looking back to today because we developed a consistent workout and reading routine, and abandoned the meaningless scrolling every day. We want to be thankful in ten years for what we chose to do this new year.

Good luck with your commitments, not just for the new year, but for the next ten years. As Matthew McConaughey said best:

“Whatever you look up to, whatever you look forward to, and whoever it is you are chasing, to that I say amen. To that I say, alright, alright, alright.”