Hey! Andrew here.
There was a moment during my football career that still defines how I think about commitment. I was fighting for a roster spot — grinding through workouts, competing against younger guys, doing everything I could to stay in the game — when my phone buzzed with a dream job offer.
Not just any job. The kind of opportunity that made everyone around me say, “Take it. You’d be crazy not to.” Angel investing, start-ups, a clear path forward that didn’t involve getting hit by 250-pound men.
I turned it down.
“Every sacrifice you make for the things that matter, every time you choose the hard right over the easy wrong, you’re building something invisible. Muscle memory for your life.”
People thought I’d lost my mind. But I’d done the math on something most people skip: the invisible cost of walking away. The trust I’d built with coaches. The muscle memory I’d developed over years. The intricate understanding of a system that would take years to rebuild somewhere else.
Walking away would have cost me more than staying.
And here’s the thing I want to say to anyone reading this:
Commitment has a compounding effect that’s invisible in real time but unmistakable in retrospect.
I’m not saying never leave. I’m saying before you do, make sure you’ve counted the invisible costs. The things that don’t show up on a pros-and-cons list. The relationships, the reputation, the compound interest of consistency.
That idea is actually a big part of something Shawn and I have been working on behind the scenes. We wrote a book about commitment, the hard choices, and what happens when you stay when it would be easier to walk away.
This is the most personal thing we’ve ever done. We wrote this book about commitment through the lens of our own experiences.
Whether you buy one copy or a thousand, thank you for being here with us.
The Courage to Commit comes out June 9.
We’re also taking it on the road with a few live nights we’re calling The Courage to Commit Nights—a chance to have these conversations in person, share more of the stories, and meet some of you face to face!
What’s a commitment that felt crazy at the time but turned out to be the best thing you ever did? Reply to this email with your answer. We read every single one 🙂
— Andrew East
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