Commitment

Every January, my gym sees a crazy surge in attendance. It’s filled with people who are in a “New Year, New You” mindset and show up ready to work up a sweat! They have their fitness goals in mind and have sworn off anything remotely resembling a carb. Then, every year by about the beginning or middle of February, it’s back to just the normal crowd. Sadly, many of the folks who set their new year goals already give up on them in the first 4-6 weeks.

This happens in many different aspects of life - maybe you said you were going to quit smoking, or maybe you said you were going to start recycling, or maybe you wanted to spend less time on your phone or tablet and more time being present with those around you. So you set your intent, and give it a few good days. But then what? You get busy? You get stressed? You had a bad day at work and just need one cigarette? You decide it’s too much effort to separate the recyclables and not worth the time? You’re waiting on an email or a text so you have your phone on the table while you’re out to dinner?

It doesn’t have to be a full lifestyle change either. It may be just one single task. Maybe you told your spouse you’d do the dishes but when you got home from work you just didn’t feel like it. Or maybe a coworker asked you to help them out by finishing up a report and although you said you would, you didn’t.

Commitment means following through. It means exercising self discipline and self control. I go to the gym nearly every day and I promise you that it’s not because I FEEL LIKE going every day. But I made a commitment to myself to stay active and be healthy. So even on the days where I don’t feel like it, I come home, put on my gym clothes, and I go. Committing to doing what you say you will do is important. Sure, it is EASIER to come up with reasons (excuses) to not follow through, but if you want change in your life, you have to commit to changing your behaviors. You have to push yourself and hold yourself accountable. 

We’ll talk more about goal setting and accountability in the future, but my challenge for you today is make a single commitment that will require some self discipline then follow through. Then come back and tell me about it in the comments! What did you do? How did it feel? Start spending some time doing self reflection as you process and hopefully practice some of the stuff we talk about.

As always, thank you for sharing part of your life with me and allowing me to share mine with you. I’m truly grateful. ❤️

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