Continued Commitments for Real Momentum

What if progress felt grounded instead of frantic? We break down the second half of the six practical commitments that turn good intentions into visible results, blending mindset, nervous system resets, and simple structure so you can move forward without burning out.

We begin with a quick recap of the first three commitments: be coachable through third-person journaling, use neutral thinking when positivity feels fake, and show up on time with real calendar blocks. Then we build on that foundation with three momentum makers: inhabit the present, take deliberate action, and create follow-up that actually sticks. You’ll hear how a slow belly breath shifts your brain out of fight-or-flight, how to define steps small enough to finish today, and why a lightweight accountability loop... friend, coach, or weekly self-review... turns effort into evidence.

Throughout the conversation, we share prompts and examples you can apply immediately: one-minute breath resets to re-center, methodical micro-actions that compound over weeks, and a simple check-in rhythm to learn faster and adjust without drama. The goal isn’t hype; it’s steady, human progress across work, health, and relationships. If you’re tired of overcommitting and underdelivering, this framework helps you choose what matters, do it on purpose, and keep promises to yourself.

Ready to try it? Pick one commitment to practice today, then tell us what you’ll follow up on. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs a nudge, and leave a review to let us know which commitment you’re adopting this week.

If you’re tired of doing this work alone, I offer a free conversation to help you get clear on your next steps. Apply Here when you’re ready.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Last Week’s Recap
• 0:27 Review: First Three Commitments
• 2:38 Introducing The Final Three
• 3:17 Practice Presence With The Breath
• 6:07 Choose Deliberate Action Steps
• 8:20 Build Accountability And Follow-Up
• 10:44 Integrating All Six Commitments
• 11:43 Invitation And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:03

Hi there. This is Mark Walker. And this is the podcast called Fierce Encouragement. I want to thank you for tuning in. For those of you watching, thanks for checking me out on YouTube. For those of you listening on your favorite podcast app, I couldn't be more glad that you're here. And I hope this finds everybody doing well wherever you're at. Last week, I talked about those first three of six commitments that we make when we go in a coaching relationship, or you could even use those kind of in a partnership relationship. But to kind of review those, and if you didn't have a chance to listen to last week's episode, it was really powerful in giving you some tools. But going over these commitments, like being committed to who you are and what you're up to. The first one was be coachable. And we talked about using journaling specifically, talking to ourselves in the third person, and being coachable in that sense, taking that time to coach ourselves in a sense, right? Especially if we don't have those resources. A journal, a notebook, and a pen, and talking to ourselves in the third person and being coachable for ourselves is a really powerful practice. The second thing we talked about was kind of focusing on the positive. I even broke off and said, think about it in the neutral sense. Sometimes it's hard for me, and I've heard this from other coaches and leaders, it's hard for clients and people to take that big step up into positive land. It can kind of feel like we're faking it. So if nothing else, come back to this impartiality, uh, in a sense, a neutralness and start from there. We often don't know what it looks like, what success might look like for us. So focusing on the positive, and even better, if you can and can't get to positive, start in that neutral. Hey, let me just take one step today. That was the second commitment. The third commitment is showing up on time and being focused on the conversation. And I kind of use the analogy or the tool of our calendar and time blocking to discipline ourselves in showing up on time and being ready. I kind of did some self-reflection there too. It's not always easy to do that, but when we give ourselves that structure and make that commitment, we can really improve our day and our week and obviously the way our months and seasons go through. For the second part of this kind of two-part podcast episode, I wanted to talk about the three last commitments in those six commitments to coaching that we a lot of coaches use and myself. But the fourth, fifth, and sixth commitments are now. Be focused on the current state. So our fourth commitment is to be really present with what's going on now. The fifth commitment is action. Taking action. What are the action steps that you're going to take this week on those things that you want to get done? And then the sixth one is follow-up, getting that reinforcement and that accountability for what you're really going after. So when we inhabit the present moment, we take action, and then we get that follow-up from a trusted friend or advisor or coach, these things and these commitments can actually spring us into some stratosphere of not just productivity and hype, but feeling more grounded while at the same time going towards those things you want. Just looking at these three last things and breaking them out and seeing what's in them that I could talk about in a deeper way, something that you might be able to plug in to your own daily practice or weekly practice, the current state now. It's so often, and then this is just a reflection with my clients and getting coached myself, is it's easy to go back and start ruminating and getting frustrated with the past. And I would even say that we have a mindset often trained to go to the negative, to remember the things that didn't go well this past week, this past day, this past year. It's hard to break out of that mode, but we really have to make effort to let it go, learn what we can from that, but instead come back to the now. What's going on right now in the chair you're sitting in? And a practice that I've talked about again and again, and I'm sure you've heard me say, if you've listened, but is coming back to the breath. Even right now, listening, taking a deep breath down into the belly and letting it out a little slower than your in-breath. We forget that this tool, the tool of our breath or the presence of our breath, is a really important and powerful way to come back to the now and inhabit the now. Get good at this. Get good at returning. I've talked to everybody from executives to new entrepreneurs and coaches. When we get good at managing our nervous system and getting out of that fight or flight, that limbic system, and getting into our creative parts of our mind and thinking, we actually open up paths and avenues to new ways of thinking and approaching problems and difficulties. So inhabit that now and use your breath to guide yourself there. The fifth point was action, taking action. This is one area that really distinguishes coaching or coaching energy, you could say, from a therapeutic healing modality. When we're talking about coaching and committing to that forward progress and inhabiting the now, we also are talking about what action steps do you want to take? And if you've never had coaching in person, oftentimes you'll hear that question come up. What do you want to create from this? What's important for you to learn from this? What do you want to take out of this situation? So it's in trying to get us to come back to the now and then also asking, what are the action steps we need to take? Is it to maybe get to bed a little earlier? Maybe it's to eat a little less and make sure to exercise a little more. But the main point of this is to take action on those things that you want to, that you need to, to commit to yourself. And I'll even go back to the breath work. If you haven't been practicing breath work during the day, commit to like one or two minutes of that today. Make that commitment, take action with the breath work, and see how your mind and your body can change as you inhabit your body in a more full and balanced way. But again, point five here the commitment that we make to ourselves is take action. So, what does that mean to you? Where can you take a little bit more action today? And maybe you're action hungry, and even I've I've done this too, and maybe it's kind of like a little, this is where that good intention can kind of pull us down sometimes when we take it too far. Taking action here doesn't mean do it all, it means that consistent kind of methodical approach to doing what you need know needs to be done. So taking action isn't to pile it all on and try to get it done in a day or a week or a year, but to really truly take deliberate small steps towards those things you need and want in your career and your life. So, again, that fifth commitment in coaching is action. What can you do to take action steps without overdoing it in your projects? And then that sixth and last commitment is that idea of following up. As a coach with clients, and even as a client myself with coaches, the following up, the accountability, the reinforcement on the things that are coming up is so important in my relationships with my coaches. And also, I hear that a lot from my clients. Having somebody to talk to, speak out loud about these things. And then the bold steps to take small steps towards those goals or those activities that they want more of in their life, from work to their exercise and energy routines, and even into the relationships. When we follow up and get that reinforcement and that accountability, we get to learn, or we get a chance to win and get better in those certain areas. So these are the last three commitments in those six coaching commitments, and they really surround again inhabiting that current state, that now-ness, action, and then the follow-up. So, how can you inhabit the moment more often using your breath? Where can you take action in your life and in the steps that you want to take? Organic, natural growth without pushing too hard. And most importantly, where can you get follow-up? We go back to the journal. We go back to dear trusted friends or advisors. Ask for help, come out of the shell and see where you might be able to get out in public a little more, share your gifts, or at least in that project that is really important to you, see where you can get some accountability so that you feel more excited about what you're working on and make progress. That's the most important thing here. We make all these commitments, the first three and these last three. We make all of these commitments as a coach and a client because we want to see those measurable, tangible results and outcomes for people. We want to feel those in our lives. We want to feel those uh amazing relationships and those ways that we get to show up for our families. But most importantly, we want to make progress in things that matter to us. That's what it means to be committed, whether it's these six commitments or some that you can come up with on your own. Make a commitment, decide to keep going, even when you feel off balance, or even when you start to uh wind down or numb out, that's a good sign that you can continue to make commitments and practice this. Being coachable, focusing on the positive, showing up on time and focused, getting in the now state, taking action, and then following up. Really powerful modalities to plug into your life. How will you use these? I'd really love to hear. Reach out, send us a text. Otherwise, check out the link in the podcast show notes. I'd love to have a courtesy strategy call with you and see where you're at and what you're working on in your life and in your business and in your world. Otherwise, thank you so much for listening. I hope you have a great day, a great evening wherever you're at. And this has been Mark, and this is Fierce Encouragement. Take care now. Bye bye.