Commit to YOURSELF First

COMMITMENT is becoming a lost art. Yet, like all foundationl principles in health and wellbeing, commitment is an integral part of YOUR deep health foundations.

I see this as a weakness in how we're living right now, not just in health and wellness but ALL OVER our everyday...

• "Commit" to a program ... but miss half or more

• "Commit" to a team/group ... but miss most games/events

• "Commit" to trying something new ... but as soon as it gets "hard", time to move on.

• "Commit" to a goal... until "life happens", then it's clearly just a "bad" program/diet/ information ...

• "Commit" to NOT do something... but then "justify" doing it when it's convenient

• "Commit" to something by saying "I'm in!" ... but then changing your mind at the last moment

• "Commit" your kids to a few different sports/groups at similar times... but then miss several events of a sport/group (teaching your kids THAT is okay in the process)

For me this was similar to learning about the "All or Nothing Mentality". Once you learn about it, you see it EVERYWHERE. When you begin to see the inability to commit becoming a norm, you notice it EVERYWHERE.

Here's the reality of this practice - It's a CRACK and a WEAKNESS in your foundation right from the get go. No matter what your INTENTIONS, what program/routine/class you've signed up for or what team/event you signed up for, your "failure" to reach your goal or to be a part of something has NOTHING to do with the program, team etc.

It's your INABILITY to COMMIT to YOURSELF that is the weakness.

What I mean by that, is that your inability to commit to whatever you signed up for / took on, has to do with the fact that you are most likely doing this in SMALL and BIGGER ways day in, day out with YOURSELF. You're PRACTICING being "better" at being LESS committed without even realizing it.

Here's a few things to investigate for those who recognize this in themselves and who want to create some positive change:

1. Are you OVER COMMITTING? This is another significant practice today in 2026, that is holding SO MANY people back. We are signing up and "committing" ourselves to WAY TOO MUCH. We're running ourselves through the ground, forgetting where to be, when to be there and miss out on things BECAUSE we're at one of our OTHER many commitments.

   
   

2. Are you saying "I'll do 'x'" and then NOT doing it? As silly as it sounds, look at the SMALLEST of things. "I'll clean that counter off today" ... but then you don't. "I'll give this person a call later" ... but then you don't. "I'll send this email out in an hour" ...and then don't. All of these "smaller" commitment lapses to YOUR own thoughts/words, build the SKILL of being LESS COMMITTED to YOURSELF.

   
   

3. Are you doing too much, too soon? Maybe the inability to commit to yourself, has more to do with the fact that you're NOT being realistic with yourself. Maybe you've put too much on your plate, maybe the program you've chose is too difficult for you right now, maybe you approached things with the "go big, or go home" attitude and quickly realized it WAS too big. None of this is "bad" IF you take that information you've learned about yourself and you do things differently next time. It's when we do it over and over again, with similar results that we only harness our ability to NOT commit.

Let's shift this is to some positive change shall we? ....

1. Commit to ONLY what you CAN realistically take on. How do we know this is the case? It WON'T feel forced or stressful. It will feel ENJOYABLE. You can keep track of ALL days/sessions/events etc that you've missed during your period of commitment and re-assess afterwards whether or not you should take this on when the opportunity comes again. If it's something you truly do want, this can then help allow you to maybe cut something else back instead.

   
   

2. Put more EMPHASIS on the small things. Most people forget that habits build naturally over time by doing LITTLE things consistently. Habits aren't typically formed from giant, "Instagram worthy pushes of effort" - they're created by practicing the smallest of things, over and over for a period of time. I talk about Dan John's "Shark Habits" in a past post on this topic.

   
   

3. Start SO SIMPLE it feels STUPID. Most people "can't" / won't do this because of the human ego. That's truly the ONLY thing holding people back from this approach. When you commit to something that YOU have control over, such as say "Getting healthier" start SO SMALL IT FEELS STUPID. For example, you may start with going for a 10min walk Monday-Friday. Just walk. That's it. OR maybe you start by doing 2-exercises with weights for 1-2 sets, 3-days per week. That's it. Starting slow and simple allows us to learn:

   
   

a) Where we are at RIGHT NOW in our abilities / capabilities

b) How much YOU need to feel GOOD! For the majority of us this is WAY less than we think.

c) How EASY is it to commit to this effort when "life happens". Because it WILL!

Committing to YOURSELF is an underrated, overlooked STRENGTH in our deep health and lifestyle goals, that we NEED to bring back into the spotlight today.