“Desire is the key to motivation, but it is determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal – a commitment to excellence – that will enable you to attain the success you seek.”
Mario Andretti
Commitment: The Foundation of Mental Toughness
As regular readers of our Mental Toughness Digest articles will know, we often talk about the challenge that comes with the interpretation of words. How important are words? Surely from a psychological flexibility point of view, it’s only the actions that matter, no?
Kind of. Yes, there is no doubt that “actions speak louder than words,” but certain words, especially when we view them more meaningfully, may help us.
One of the best examples in the English language is replacing the word ‘problem’ with ‘challenge’. A straightforward swap of just one word can help. About ten years ago, I was working with an international sporting team, and we were playing an away game in Indonesia. The team’s humans were all complaining that the heat and humidity would be a problem. I asked them all to see this as a challenge rather than a problem. I actually went so far as to ban the word ‘problem’ from the moment we set foot on Indonesian soil. It’s always hard to know just how much impact a psychological intervention actually has, but it certainly felt like it really helped.
Commitment vs Motivation vs Other Words
As a qualified sport psychologist with more than 20 years in the trenches, I have always been drawn to the word commitment more than motivation.
Why? There are a few reasons, actually. First, the word ‘commitment’ is embedded in the title of the framework most commonly used by our team of sports psychologists here at Condor Performance.
We lean heavily on Acceptance and Commitment Training in the group and individual consulting we do. It’s worth clarifying that ACT is the process and that Psychological Flexibility is the outcome:
Psychological flexibility is the goal and core concept of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT is the therapeutic approach or set of principles and techniques used to develop psychological flexibility. In short, you can think of psychological flexibility as the capacity or skill, while ACT is the method for building that skill to live a more meaningful, values-based life, even with difficult experiences.
The other reason why I love the word commitment is that it feels like we can do something about it if it wanes. In contrast, motivation seems much more rigid. Variations in motivations seem more feelings and mood-related. But commitment and determination seem closely linked to actions.
Committed Performance and Sport Psychologists
Since founding Condor Performance in 2005, I have welcomed many psychologists to our team. I don’t keep a count, but I would estimate the number is close to 40 or 50 by now.
Yet only about a quarter of these ‘starters’ remain. What is it about our current team that separates them from the dozens that have come and gone? Apart from some prerequisites, such as outstanding knowledge across Sports and being qualified up to the eyeballs, it is their commitment that shines through. Their willingness to do sessions very early or very late. Their determination to improve their sporting knowledge of a sport that is not one of their historical strengths..
Due to the client-focused monthly options our clients choose from, which encourage shorter, more frequent sessions at times that suit them (not necessarily us), real commitment is tested from the get-go.
Nothing questions commitment in our line of work quite like sitting in traffic for an hour to deliver a 30-minute session, or getting up at 6 a.m. because of a time zone difference. The cracks tend to start appearing early for those who are not really committed to helping others improve.
Do You Want To Improve Your Commitment?
Although the current Condor performance team is almost at full capacity and we are in the process of bringing on board two or three more psychologists to be ready for the start of 2026, there is still some availability within the current team.
Therefore, if you would like to have a non-obligatory 20-minute phone or Google Meet conversation with one of our two New Enquiries Officers (Tara or Lizzie), then send us an email to info@condorperformance.com with details (names, sport, mental challenges 😜, location and phone number) about you or the person you are enquiring for. Typically, we respond within 24 hours.
