Personal dedication

Whether you are a doctor, engineer, training specialist, technician, secretary, student, or someone like me, an HR consultant - the answer you provide should help you keep your life on track.

I'd like to explain why I haven't published anything in the last few months - it's been a very busy time in my life but then each of you must have the same thoughts every day. But what do I mean by being busy and how is that related to Personal Dedication?

From 8-27 October, I was in Nepal on a Trek to Mount Everest Base Camp organized by the Global Volunteer Network. This is an organization involved with various programs and projects that help Nepali children. Of course, GVN is also involved in volunteer programs in other countries as well but I'm going to stick with Nepal for this article.

The Trek to Mount Everest Base Camp was successful on many fronts including how the individual 40 participants came together to form teams that accomplished a grueling trek to Everest Base Camp that sits at 5545 meters (18192 feet for those of you that don't think in meters, like me). This was quite an accomplishment by itself but there's much more than just hiking up and down the side of mountains for 5-6 hours each day - there's also pushing yourself beyond where you'd like to stop while dealing with the altitude that makes it hard to breath, hard to hike and even hard to sleep.

In spite of these obstacles, everyone got up each morning to face the challenge for the 7 days it took to get to Base Camp. Some people experienced nausea and continual headaches while others overcame fatigue and illness. Why did they put up with this suffering when quitting would have been so easy? They got up each day and faced the challenge, for the same reasons we go to work everyday, they had made a personal commitment and were dedicated to the success of the trip. And what was it so important to succeed? Because success meant the group was able to raise nearly $70,000 dollars for the construction of an orphanage in Katmandu. Personal dedication made it all possible!

But where does Personal Dedication start in a person's life? When you finish high school? Graduate from college? After earning an advanced degree? Starting your own company? Everyone will probably have a different answer but personal dedication has a role in each of our lives.

Now I'll share a few remarkable examples that will show what real dedication is about! The youngest person to make the Journey to Base Camp was 9 years old and the oldest trekker was 60! Another individual that displayed amazing dedication was the person that severely twisted his ankle on the 4th day of the trek and still continued to carry-on everyday until he made it to Base Camp with the rest of the group!

These examples show the spirit of Personal Dedication but there was much more - teams pulling together to support one another and ensure everyone was successful each day, people reaching out and carrying part of someone's load when people were tired, university students that knew they'd fall behind their classmates by going on the journey, the person that sold her home to raise enough money to make the trip… the examples go on and on! Each of my teammates displayed amazing dedication and I was privileged to have joined them on this endeavor.

Now I'll close with a few questions and challenges for each of you. Do we get up and go to work each morning with this kind of drive and commitment? Or do we think of work as just another 8 hours on the job? When was the last time we reached out to our fellow workers and supported them in the same way the trekkers supported their team mates? Or do we focus on our own tasks so that we can get our work done as easily as possible?

Personal Dedication means continually challenging ourselves to do the best that we can! It doesn't matter if it's in the office, school, production plant, warehouse or home! We should be displaying the same kind of enthusiasm in our profession as we do with our hobbies and other interest… If we don't then it's time to start asking ourselves why not and that self-reflection needs to be done from time-to-time to keep our selves on track!