Many people want to know how to follow through with commitment.
We make promises to ourselves all the time. We decide we’re going to exercise, eat better, learn more, pray with greater focus, or spend more time with the people we love. We genuinely mean it. Yet somehow, after a few days or weeks, the commitment fades.
Why is that?
Years ago, I decided I needed to take my health more seriously. I knew myself well enough to realize that simply making a decision wasn’t going to be enough. So I came up with a strategy. I bought an expensive exercise bike, figuring that if I spent enough money on it, I would feel obligated to use it.
The bike arrived. I put it in my bedroom.
The first day I didn’t use it.
The second day I didn’t use it.
A few months later it had become a very expensive clothing rack.
Every morning I would wake up, look at it, and feel guilty. The strange thing was that the guilt didn’t motivate me. It only reminded me that I wasn’t doing what I had committed myself to do.
One day I asked myself a question.
How is it that I put on tefillin every single day and never seem to struggle with it? What makes that commitment different?
The answer came to me almost immediately.
I see tefillin as God’s will. It isn’t merely a good idea. It isn’t a personal project. It is part of my relationship with God and part of why I am here.
Then I asked myself another question:
Why don’t I see taking care of my health the same way?
After all, the Torah tells us, “Only guard yourself and guard your soul exceedingly” (Devarim 4:9). The Rambam writes that maintaining a healthy body is among the ways we serve God because it enables us to know Him and fulfill our purpose in life (Hilchot De’ot 4:1).
That day I got on the bike.
I’ve continued exercising ever since.
How to Follow Through With Commitment: Commitment Begins With Meaning
Most people think commitment is about discipline. I think commitment is about meaning.
When something feels optional, we postpone it. When something is connected to our purpose, we protect it.
Pirkei Avot teaches, “Make His will your will” (Avot 2:4). The goal isn’t simply to force ourselves to do the right thing. The goal is to recognize that what God wants for us is ultimately what is best for us.
This is similar to an idea I explore in Why Do We Praise God?. When we understand that our lives have meaning and direction, our actions begin to change as well.
A Different Question
If there is something you’ve committed to but haven’t been able to follow through on, try asking a different question.
Instead of asking, “How can I make myself do this?”
Ask, “Why does this matter?”
The secret of how to follow through with commitment is not finding more willpower. It is discovering a deeper purpose.
When an action becomes part of your relationship with God and the person you were created to be, commitment stops feeling like a burden and starts feeling like an opportunity.