“Commitment Issues?”—The Power of Fierce Commitment
If there’s one thing I truly indulge in religiously, it’s my vacations! Whether I’m exploring a new city, sunbathing in a beach town, or spending a quick 24 hours in Vegas, I soak it all in. To me, that means breaking away from my normal routine, disconnecting from work, embracing a slower and relaxed pace, and indulging in food and sleep. Oh, and as much as I stick to an exercise routine at home, I NEVER work out on vacations! NEVER!
But on a recent trip to New York, things were a bit different. Two weeks before my trip, I had started a new fitness training program, and one of my weekly workouts had to be completed while I was in NYC.
Now, if you’re anything like me, you’re probably thinking, “New York is a walking city! Who needs to go to the gym?!” Believe me, I thought that to myself many times over, but it wasn’t sufficient to accomplish what this program demanded.
Let me go back and explain. The program consists of four days of strength training, three days of incline walks, 10K steps per day, and a nutrition plan to support the training. I’ll save the deeper “why” behind joining the program for another journal post. For now, the important part is that I committed to it.
So, for the four days that I was in New York, I had only one workout to complete—a single one-hour session. Doesn’t sound like much, right? So I decided that I would do the workout on the second day of the trip.
As soon as I made that decision, the long and repetitive chorus of excuses began to play in my mind:
“You’ll be walking a lot so you can skip this one.”
“It’s your vacation, you can do whatever you want.”
“What’s one less workout, you’re already doing the other days.”
“You can’t wake up early with a 3 hour time difference.”
“You’ll wake the kids up trying to get ready to leave the room.”
And my favorite:
“No one will ever know if you skip it!”
Still, I held strong and fought back against the excuses, but then came the physical obstacles:
The hotel emailed me two days before the trip to let me know their gym was under construction—I'd have to go around the corner to a neighboring hotel to use their gym!
I had forgotten my earbuds in LA—how would I get through the workout without music?!
I was completely away from my normal routine while in NY so how could I properly prepare and have my pre-workout meal?!
The combination of physical obstacles along with the incessant chatter of excuses in my mind was enough to make me ditch my sneakers, turn off my alarm, and snuggle under the fluffy comforter of my hotel bed.
In the past, I would have quit. Actually, I would have ditched the vacation workout idea long before I’d even gotten to NYC.
But I didn’t. This time was different. Not because I suddenly had unshakable willpower. Not because I’d mastered my mind. Not because I had great expectations of myself.
This time was different because I made a fierce commitment to MYSELF.
Yes, I made an agreement with my trainer. Yes, I agreed to do this alongside my daughter. But above and beyond everything else, I made a deep and personal agreement with myself. I knew what the program would require—physically, mentally, emotionally, and energetically—and I said yes.
In the world of professional coaching, this fierce commitment is what I had to discover deep within myself when working with my own coach, and it’s what I look for in potential clients. It’s an unwavering agreement and dedication to the action, no matter what. Once the decision is made, that’s it! There are no more negotiations after the fact.
Had I only been committed to my trainer, my daughter, or anyone else, I would have slacked off a thousand times over. But the understanding of fierce commitment—and the consequent effects of such a commitment—created a completely different situation.
So what is fierce commitment?
Fierce commitment means showing up consistently and doing what you say you’ll do—no excuses, no negotiations.
Fierce commitment holds your hand as you step outside your comfort zone, and helps you build self-trust and achieve desired results along the way.
Fierce commitment is not only a commitment to yourself right now, it’s a love letter to your future self.
When you are fiercely committed and follow through on your dedicated actions, you get to look back and say, “Yay me—I did it.” This moment of celebration, combined with the experience of staying true to your word builds self-trust. And that self-trust shows up and steps in to remind you that you’ve done hard things before, and you can do them again.
Through this progression of fierce commitment and self-trust, you see results, reach goals, and fulfill your future vision. That’s how you grow. That’s how you become the person you’ve always envisioned.
While my mind is still quick to serve up excuses and attempts to keep me “safe” in my comfort zone, fierce commitment allows me to move beyond what is comfortable and face new experiences with trust that I can handle whatever is in front of me—and with a great amount of self compassion and love, as well.
If you’ve ever fallen short on a goal or can’t seem to stay on track with your plans, instead of tossing it all out the window and spiraling into self-criticism, let me offer you this:
Pause, ask yourself, “Who am I committed to?”, and consider starting fresh with a fierce commitment to yourself.
