Motivation Is a Feeling. Commitment Is a Choice.
- Julie Jones
- 3 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Yesterday morning didn’t go as planned.
I took my dad to an appointment that was supposed to last two hours. Perfect. I had two hours of work to do while I waited, including a meeting and prep for a call with a team for early afternoon, then I’d head to a meeting with the Director of Oberlin’s Musical Theatre Department to set up work for next semester. Both things I was pumped about!!
It was one of those rare mornings where I had everything lined up just right… until I didn’t.
About an hour and a half after the appointment started, the nurse practitioner walked my dad into the lobby, not to say “We’re all done!”, but to say, “You need to go to the ER. Now.”
Not home. Not to breakfast. Not back to my perfectly planned schedule. Straight. To. The. ER.
Here we go again!
My dad was not a happy camper. He didn’t want to go, which makes it so much more fun (seeping with sarcasm!). But to be honest, neither did I.
But there we went with more tests, a transfer to the main campus and a long, unexpected day ahead.
It didn’t matter how I felt about it. It mattered what needed to be done.
How often is this the case as we practice, prepare and perform? Something needs to be done…and it’s the last thing we want to do!!
Here’s the issue. We rely on MOTIVATION…to do what we need to do for those not-so-fun parts of any job, experience or opportunity.
And here’s the truth. Motivation won’t always show up. But commitment is a different story!
We love to talk about motivation. But motivation is like good weather. It’s great when it’s here, but you can’t depend on it to show up when you need it most.
Commitment, on the other hand, is the thing that keeps you moving when your plans change, when you’re tired, frustrated or just don’t want to.
Research backs this up. Angela Duckworth’s work on grit shows that sustained excellence isn’t about bursts of passion or motivation — it’s about perseverance for long-term goals, even when it’s inconvenient or uncomfortable.
And neuroscientists tell us that motivation runs on dopamine, that brain chemical that spikes when things are new or exciting. But here’s the issue. It fades fast when things get repetitive.
Commitment doesn’t depend on brain chemistry. It depends on identity. It’s about who you are and what you value, not how you feel in the moment.
And since I value (deeply) being a daughter…to the ER we go!
Nice of me, eh? But what when it’s not life or death, but it MATTERS…and we aren’t into it? How do we get ourselves (or others) to actually commit and stick with it when motivation is on vacation?
Research in performance psychology points to a few key strategies.We can start by connecting actions to identity. When people say, “I’m the kind of person who finishes what I start,” or “I’m a disciplined athlete,” they’re reinforcing identity-based commitment. As author James Clear and others say, behavior change sticks when it’s tied to who we are, not just what we want.
What if we make it public? I know....I know...you might cringe when you see people make bold statements on what they are going to do on social media. (Be honest…me, too!) But they may be on to something. They are forcing themselves into public accountability!
Research in self-determination theory shows that when we make commitments visible…to teammates, coaches, or even just one person (or on social media)… follow-through increases dramatically because it taps into our social responsibility and our need for relatedness. We want to do what we said we’d do!
One of my favorite tools comes in handy here, too! The implementation intention. It’s nothing but a pre-commitment! According to psychologist Peter Gollwitzer, it’s deciding when, where and how you’ll act before it’s time to act. It removes the emotional debate in the moment…the “Do I feel like it?”… and replaces it with a plan.
Commitment isn’t built by waiting for motivation. It’s about engineering consistency by connecting actions to who we are and by making them visible and planned.
Finally, the grumpy old man didn’t make his experience any better by being grumpy! Getting upset doesn’t make hard things go away or go faster. (Trust me, I’ve tried…and I watched it fail again today!)
Psychologist James Gross’s research on emotion regulation shows that reappraisal or reframing how we see a situation is one of the most effective ways to manage stress and maintain performance.
Instead of saying, “This is awful,” we can say, “This is necessary.” Instead of “I can’t believe this is happening,” we can say, “Here’s what I can control right now.”
This doesn’t mean you have to love every moment. It means you do what needs to be done wisely, not blindly. You fulfill your responsibilities without letting frustration take the wheel.
Commitment in situations like today is easy. But what about after the season, during the downtime…when no one is watching?
Motivation is easy when the schedule’s set, the coach is watching, and teammates are training beside you. But when the season slows down, when no one’s keeping score or holding you accountable, that’s when your commitment speaks the loudest.
The choice is simple but not easy: Do you wait to feel like it, or do you do it because it matters?
When motivation fades, commitment keeps you steady.
When conditions change, responsibility keeps you consistent.
And when life throws an ER visit into your perfect plan… commitment decides what you’ll do next.
As they say…and how many times have you said, “I’m going to….” then it fades into oblivion…“Commitment means doing what you said you’d do long after the mood you said it in has left you.” — Anonymous (but every champion lives by it)
If I had a penny for every time I was going to write a letter…or stick to a plan…or eat more protein…I’d be writing these tips from a beach house on some beautiful body of water…
Motivation is a feeling. Commitment is a decision. And winners do what needs to be done, no matter how they feel!
Commit!
Julie
P.S. I'd love to talk with your team. Let's get something set – juliej@ssbperformance.com or 234-206-0946
Julie Jones
Mental Performance Coach
SSB Performance
juliej@ssbperformance.com • 234-206-0946
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