10 Best Ways to Be More Committed To Yourself (Free Printable + How To)

Self-commitment examples include:

• Reading, studying, or learning for 30 minutes a day
• Waking up 15 minutes earlier
• Exercising 3 days a week
• Shutting down your computer at 5:00 pm
• Journaling and reviewing goals every morning
• Eating 3 salads a week

See more ideas with this big list of amazing daily habits.

How to Make And Keep a Commitment To Yourself

First, you must start with achievable promises. And then build your life around keeping them. Remember, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.

1. Start With A Specific & Achievable Promise

Clarity helps you follow through. So, while your overarching goal may be vague, the promises you keep to yourself need to be specific. Instead of saying “eat better,” say “cook dinner at home with at least 1 veggie for 5 days a week.”

Here’s another example for if you’d like to start getting up earlier:

I will get up at 6:00 am 5 days a week. When I wake up, I will take a walk or journal and write a checkmark in my planner to keep record. To achieve this, I will be in bed by 10:00 pm every night (no phone, no lights).

See how much clearer that is?!

Also, be sure that it is a realistic promise! If you haven’t been running, then setting the goal to run 5 miles every day is not a good self-commitment. Start with .5 or 1 mile. It’s always better to start small and then build!

2. Sign a Commitment Contract

You’ve made it SO MUCH easier to become committed to yourself with free printable!

Research shows that when you make a written commitment, you are more likely to follow through. In the book Influence, social psychologist Dr. Robert Cialdini found that once we’ve committed to a course of action, we naturally pressure ourselves to follow through (source).

Add a dash of accountability, and you’ll have no problem keeping that commitment to yourself.

In fact, every aspect of the commitment contract helps you keep your promises. You will understand exactly

• what you want to do
• set a deadline
• create your why
• understand your first steps
• build accountability, and more!

What’s on the Contract

Now, here is what is on the habit contract template and why. Then, keep reading for specific examples and download the free printable.

Your Self Commitment:

*State your main goal(s) or habit(s). Keep this between 1-5. If you have more than 2 or 3, all of the promises should be helping you toward one larger goal.

Why You Are Determined To Achieve This:

Write down what your motivation is to reach this goal. Dig deep and be specific about how it will improve your quality of life.

Will it allow you to change your job? Feel strong? Travel? Spend more quality time with the kids?

How You Will Measure Your Goal & Milestones:

Write what you will use to measure your progress. If it is a large goal, you may want to break it down into smaller milestone touchpoints along the way as well.

Here are different ways to measure progress:

• Use a free habit tracker
• Put a marble in a jar each day you do it (or paperclips)
• Mark an x on the calendar
• Track your number daily or weekly (Body mass index, bank account, number of minutes, etc)

The Very Next Step: Other Action Steps:

Next, write down the first step towards meeting your goal. Make it an action verb so that you know exactly what to do. For example: “Call _____.” “Write _____.”

There’s also space here to brainstorm what the following steps may look like. And brainstorm ways to make your self commitment as easy as possible: what you can prep ahead, what you need to plan or research, etc. It’s your action plan!

Consequence Of Not Following Through:

To keep a commitment to yourself long-term, you need to put skin in the game. Since most humans are loss-averse, the commitment contract includes a consequence.

Here are examples:

• You donate to an organization that you hate
• You have to dress up for a month
• You wear a sports team rival’s gear/clothing for a week
• You do all the chores in the house for a week
• You give $100 to your spouse or friend to use however they want

The consequence you pick can be harsh or light, but it needs to be something your accountability partner can make sure you do if you fail to keep your promise. Base it on the goal, your personality, and your situation.

Speaking from experience, the threat of donating to a person or organization you dislike is very effective. Especially if you feel this person goes against your moral code.

With Whom & When You Check In

Pick a friend, your partner, or a family member. Then, decide which day of the week or month you will show your progress.

Your Signature

Adding your signature provides the formal commitment. The signatures might seem silly, but they add weight to your promise.

Your Accountability Partner’s Signature

Having your partner sign means that you are serious about what’s happening.

You always have two choices: your commitment versus your fear.

Sammy Davis, Jr.

Free Commitment Contract Pdf

How to Be Committed To Myself Example

I’ve been using this habit contract for months. Even I have been a little shocked at how effective it is. Each month, I make it a tiny bit harder.

As a result, I’ve eaten better, exercised double, and kept every single promise I’ve made to myself. It doesn’t get better than that! Here’s what my card says this month:

Self-Commitment:

My main goal is to get into better physical shape, so I have multiple habits to support that.

• Move 80+ minutes a day: Split up between walking, working out, and stretching throughout the day (With 2 exceptions for the month in case I’m traveling or sick.)
• Write down the food I eat 6 days a week in a journal
• Eat 3 salads a week
• Drink 3 smoothies a week

Why You Are Determined To Achieve This:

I want to feel confident, lean, sexy, and strong in my skin. Getting into better physical shape boosts my energy and gives more focus to family and work. Also, doing hard things through working out and eating better helps me to do harder things in other areas of my life too.

How You Will Measure Your Goal & Milestones:

• Food log
• Workout summaries from my online app

The Very Next Step: Other Action Steps:

The very next step is to make ahead 9 smoothie baggies. After that, I can:

• Prep 3 salads every Sunday
• Write the week’s workouts in my planner every Sunday
• Put a blank notebook next to my bed (to write in the food log)
• Commit to a 10k (to have something to work toward)

The Consequence:

If I fail to keep any of my self commitments, I have to wear my college sports rivalry team shirt for 3 days (in front of people).

With Whom & When You Check In

When I started, I checked in every weekend. Now that I’ve done this for months, I just check in with my husband at the end of the month. I show him my food logs and workout summaries.

10 BEST Tips: Be More Committed to Yourself

Specific goal setting and the habit contract are the most essential piece to being committed to yourself daily. But these 10 tips will help propel you to levels you never thought were possible.

1. Set up Reminders

Sometimes, it’s not that we didn’t want to do it. It’s that we forgot! Make sure that doesn’t happen.

Set reminders or timers on your phone. And write your new habits in your planner until they become routine.

2. Set Up Your Home For Success

Make the self commitment as easy and obvious as possible to follow through on. This could mean…

• putting something farther out of reach (i.e. wine in the basement instead of the pantry)
• taking a different route to work (to avoid passing the coffee shop)
• setting books to read next to your bed (or all over your house)
• making meals ahead of time
• subscribing to a service

3. Review Your Goal Often

Luckily, we’ve got the main things covered with our habit contract. But based on great goal setting facts, studies show that reviewing your goals often helps you keep them at the forefront of your mind. So, write them down and review them daily.

4. Do It With a Friend or Family Member

Grab someone you know who wants to work towards the same goal and keep your commitments together!

5. Try Our Motivation Checklist

Does your motivation run low sometimes? Grab access below and get our free checklist sent straight to you.

6. Focus on the Effort

The most frustrating part of working on your habits is the lag time it takes between your effort and your results. Sometimes it takes months for you to see the difference.

That’s why it’s so important to focus on action and effort. Keep the faith that, over time, you’ll see the stunning results you’re working toward. Just keep going and adjusting along the way.

7. Check in Often To Be More Committed to Yourself

To see the fastest results, do your check-ins weekly or daily at the beginning. The constant reminder to stick with it will get you through the first month or two without missing a step.

8. Think Ahead To Follow Through

When we pay for something, we give it a higher value. So, when it comes to your self-commitment, pay up front!

It will make you feel like you can’t cop out. You can sign up for sessions, services, a race, or classes ahead of time (I used to practice my Spanish online this way).

9. Announce Your Goal To More People

No one wants to look like they flake out on their promises!

That’s why announcing your goals to others can be so effective. The other stellar thing about announcing your goals is that it gives others a chance to support you. For example, if your mom knows you’re trying hard to lose weight, perhaps she’ll make a bigger effort to eat healthier fare with you.

10. Work on The Stories You Tell Yourself

The more confidence, respect, and love you feel for yourself, the more likely you will be to follow through on your promises. Try:

• Positive Self Love Affirmations
• Our popular 30 Day Self-Love Challenge
• Powerful Self Love Journal Prompts

What’s Next?

You’ll have no problem becoming more committed to yourself with these tips and free printable contract. It’s all about action. So, while the rest of the world talks up a good game, you’re actually doing the work. And seeing the results.

For more goal ideas, check out:

• Best Health & Wellness Goals
• Personal Goals Examples To Achieve
• Family Goals Ideas To Work on Together
• Relationship Goals For Couples
• Kids Goal Setting Tips

And for more ways to care for yourself, don’t miss our free printable library. Sign up below!

How to Keep More Commitments To Yourself