Phases Of Commitment: Moving Through The Five Steps

How many times have you been frustrated that your intentions aren’t coming true in real life? When this happens, it’s likely because one thing is missing: Your connection with your feelings!

Sometimes, we say, “I want this thing,” but we don’t really feel it. Let me let you in on a secret: The whole reason you’re doing it is for the feeling! If you’re not anchoring the feeling in your body or connecting to the bigger picture, nothing happens. You have to tap into something almost primal and underlying within you to feel it and believe it.

When you don’t tap into the feelings, your brain will do the Shoulds, Woulds and I don’t know hows. And let me tell you, nothing shuts down the flow between you and the Universe faster than saying, “I don’t know!”

If you’re ready to feel, make a commitment, and call big, beautiful things into your life, you first must understand the five phases of commitment and how these stages work to send a message to the Universe and your body about what you believe you can accomplish!

The Five Phases of Commitment

When you take time to get into the feeling and envision what you’re creating, you’re ready to commit to it. And I mean, all-out, screaming-from-the-rooftops commitment. But what if you aren’t quite there yet? Here are the five stages of commitment. See if you’re getting caught up at any point, then go back and make sure you’re in full commitment before you begin your journey with manifesting.

Empty Commitment

When thinking about stages of commitment in the psychology world, this is the preparation stage. In other words, you’re thinking or aware of something brewing, but you’re not sure exactly what it is.

Empty Commitment can be something that you’re not sure you want, something you’re not connected to, or something you don’t feel. You say you want this, but you don’t have a strong pull to the intention, visualization, or action to get what you claim you want.

It’s like saying you want to stop eating after 8pm because it isn’t good for your digestion, yet you constantly find yourself heading to the kitchen for a snack before bedtime. You’re not really committed to the idea of not eating after 8pm; you’re also not committed to the idea of acting in ways that will help improve your digestion.

If you find that you’re stalled out when you’re trying to call something into your life, see if you’re possibly making a commitment that doesn’t resonate with you on any level. It’ll be a fight every step of the way if you’re trying to commit to something that’s really an empty commitment.

Half Commitment

Half Commitment moves beyond empty commitment when you’re looking at the steps, though you’re still mostly in the preparation, or thinking about it, stage.

Like empty commitment, it can be that you still don’t have full clarity or have a full connection to your vision or the feelings of what you desire.

It can also be that you aren’t in alignment. Here you are, thinking you’ve made a commitment to yourself, but it’s just a half commitment. It’s a struggle to stay out of the kitchen, so you think that you’re flaky or that you don’t follow through on anything. You may even use that nasty, four-letter word: LAZY.

What’s actually going on is that you’re pushing and fighting to do something that still isn’t a perfect match. It’s not resonating with your body. You may also be lacking clarity on what you really desire. If you find yourself feeling stuck, here are five things you can do to move from stuck to free (and full of clarity)!

Commitment

Now we’re getting somewhere! When you move from the preparation stage of making a commitment to the acceptance phase, things will start to flow better. In Commitment, you’re feeling alignment and connecting to that deeper purpose. Something is still off, however, and not completely clicking.

In the Commitment stage, you know you want to do something, you know what kind of outcome you want, but you’re not clear on the action steps. Because of that, you haven’t surrendered and let go of control to let the Universe help you figure it out.

When you’re clear on your intentions and you’ve fully envisioned the outcome (including trusting that it’ll come to you), you’re ready to move to the more serious stages of making a commitment.

Total Commitment

Total Commitment comes when you’re aligned, connected, and have more clarity on the action to take. Now, you’re willing to take action.

That willingness is a key component of these phases of commitment. When you’re at the beginning stages, you either aren’t in action because you don’t feel the drive to take action or you’re unsure of what, exactly, you should do. So, something deep within you holds you back.

In Total Commitment, you’re almost there. You can see, feel, and taste the end result of your follow-through. Many folks will stop here. They think they’ve mastered it. And… you’re still waiting for it to come to you. You’re not completely, fully committed and willing to take action. You take some, but you’re not all-out yet.

Full Commitment

Full Commitment is a bond with the Universe. Now, you’ve blended willingness to act and trusting that this is the next right step in the process. You know what actions you need to take and you’re willing to do whatever you have to in order to get what you want.

You say to yourself, “I don’t care if I can’t perfectly see how to get there, I trust that this is the step I’m meant to take and I am willing to do whatever I need in order to have what I desire.”

Full Commitment is trust. You’re committed, you’re in it, you already have everything it takes to get you where you need to go.

This could also look like surrender.

It’s a piece of the challenge to be willing to let go of how you thought you’d get it. To be in Full Commitment, you have to trust, let go, and show up many different times on many levels. 

A while ago, I had to go through this cycle a few times. I was dizzy all the time and knew I couldn’t live like that. So I recommitted to seeking out other options to heal myself. One thing I found was enzyme therapy. I surrendered to that for a year and a half, and at some juncture, I realized it was time to make a new commitment to find another way to heal myself.

This is what the process looked like: I showed up. I did the work. It wasn’t taking me where I knew I needed to go. So I went back, recommitted to something else, found a new practitioner, and started again.

These phases of commitment are a cycle. We have to go through all of them because not everything we commit to will bring us where we want to go, nor will it be a commitment we’re willing to take.

As you’ve read this, have you noticed yourself in any of these stages? I’d love to hear in the comments what phase of commitment you’re in now!