I thought I'd love hunting.

So when a friend invited me to go deer hunting in South Carolina, I said yes on the spot. I blocked the date, borrowed a gun, got a license, and could barely sleep the night before.

We woke up at 3 a.m., drove into the Upstate, hauled our gear to the deer stand, and waited. Then we waited some more. The whole morning passed without a single deer. I sat there sweating through camo gear, gun never fired.

I've never been deer hunting since.

Here's what I learned that morning: I was interested in hunting. I was never committed to it.

David Brooks put it best: "Commitment is when you put structure around something for when you no longer feel like doing it."

Most people confuse the two. They go through life interested in things instead of committed to them, showing up at half speed instead of full speed.

Kahlil Gibran said it a different way: "Do not love half lovers. Do not entertain half friends. Do not live a half life."

Interested is the half life. Committed is the full life.

I don't know what you're only going halfway in on right now. A job. A relationship. A hobby you keep meaning to take seriously.

But you'll never know how good it could be until you commit to it.