Commitment is doing what you said you were going to do …
Long after the mood you said you were going to do it in has left you.
This is one of my favorite quotes that applies so much to fitness and nutrition but also to what’s going on all around us.
Fitness and commitment
Let’s start with the fitness analogy.
When shit goes south quickly, as humans, we experience an initial knee-jerk reaction.
That reaction is often emotional, irrational, and illogical.
Person suddenly cuts you off on the highway … “bleep you MFer!” Aggressively honk the horn. Flip the bird. You know the drill.
You step on the scale and it’s unexpectedly up and maybe it’s a number you never wanted to see again … “eff this! Why am I even trying? I should just starve myself for the next 4 weeks and do 12 hours of cardio per day!” Also, goes to google and searches ‘fat burners’.
Immediate emotional reactions cloud our judgment and make us lose sight of why we even started in the first place.
In that moment, we lose touch with reality and forget about our commitment.
The goal isn’t to completely avoid the emotional reaction because that’s damn near impossible.
Instead, the goal is to be aware of it as soon as you can and give yourself the ability to act in accordance with your commitments and values.
For example, the scale was up and you flipped out and thought all the irrational thoughts.
Cool … now what?
What’s YOUR level of commitment?
Are you able to reconnect to why you’re pursuing better health and fitness in the first place?
Can you assess the commitments you made to yourself and how they’re serving you?
Will you establish new commitments that are realistic and may serve you better?
The same thing applies to the current situation that we’re all dealing with.
What can you commit to? What have you been doing and is that helping?
Remember … the best time to fix the roof is when the sun is out.
The initial reaction is like a downpour. You’re going to be extreme in your response.
The dust will settle, the rain will stop, and the sun will come out.
That’s when you’ll truly be tested to see if you’re really committed to fixing the roof.
