What is self-determination theory commitment?

Example: You say you value health, but you have not exercised in months. You say you are a writer, but you have not written anything since last spring. Now contrast that with someone who runs three mornings a week, rain or shine — not because each run is enjoyable, but because they have decided they are a runner, and runners run. The difference is not discipline. It is identity. The first person treats exercise as a behavior they should perform. The second person treats it as evidence of who they are. When a commitment is anchored to identity, defection feels like self-betrayal rather than mere schedule disruption. And when you deliberately choose which commitments get this identity-level anchoring, you stop being shaped by accident and start being shaped by design.

This concept is part of Commitment Architecture in the How to Think curriculum.