You have to learn early that if you commit to something, you stay and do it.

BBC: UK Politics

But the best way you are going to find out if they have the ability to commit whole-heartedly to something is to discover if they have done so in the past.

FORBES: Move up http://i.forbesimg.com t Move down

"By setting this goal, we acknowledge there is a problem, and by setting this goal, we commit ourselves to doing something about it, " Bush said in a speech that capped two days of talks at a White House-sponsored climate change conference.

NPR: Bush Calls for Goal on Reducing Greenhouse Gases

Why commit to using and coming to rely on something new if it might be yanked away at some future date?

FORBES: The Google Reader Problem With Trusting Google

Maybe the Kindle was the Bowflex of bookishness: something expensive that, when you commit to it, forces you to do more of whatever it is you think you should be doing more of.

NEWYORKER: A New Page

Anyone who hires him will have to take the whole package: a man who questions everything he does, why he's doing it and whether he wouldn't be happier doing something else and one who is honest enough not to commit long-term, because he knows himself well enough to know that when he stops enjoying himself and reaches his threshold, he'll walk away.

WSJ: The End of the Pep Guardiola Era

After two-and-a-half years at Do Something, employees can take a month-long paid sabbatical to do volunteer work if they commit to another year.

FORBES: CSR And The Job Hunt, More Thoughts