{"id":22345,"date":"2017-02-07T10:53:46","date_gmt":"2017-02-07T07:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/?p=22345"},"modified":"2020-09-08T13:37:09","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T13:37:09","slug":"fear-of-commitment-being-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/fear-of-commitment-being-happy\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Signs Your Fear of Commitment Is Preventing You from Being Happy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fear of commitment is a common phobia, and even those who are comfortable with making some commitments in their lives don’t do so lightly.<\/h2>\n

Before we talk about the fear of commitment, let’s give a definition of the word “commitment<\/strong>” first. It means a pledge, and something binding you to a particular path of action. It therefore inevitably reduces your field of possibilities.<\/p>\n

Because commitment limits you to certain actions, it necessarily deprives you of certain possibilities for pleasure<\/strong>. It\u2019s easy to understand, therefore, why so many people find it difficult to do.<\/p>\n

So why commit?<\/h3>\n

If it\u2019s so limiting to commit\u00a0to things<\/a>, it\u2019s surprising that people don\u2019t just duck out of tying themselves to obligations all together and choose, rather, to follow their own desires and whims. To live life for its transient pleasures<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

That can be great, and there\u2019s a lot to be said for living life in the present. \u00a0When we say \u2018living in the present\u2019 what we really mean is pursuing pleasure. Nevertheless, we all know that there are several things in life that are pleasurable but which do us harm in excess<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And there are plenty of things of tremendous value, which are lasting sources of happiness, that take sacrifice\u00a0and work to achieve<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Here are 7 signs that your fear of commitment is preventing you from being happy;<\/h3>\n

1. You never seem to get anywhere<\/h4>\n

When you don\u2019t commit to anything you never get any closer to a goal<\/strong>. It\u2019s very simple. To use an example: if you want to lose 50 pounds but you can\u2019t commit to an exercise or diet program, you won\u2019t lose weight.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter if the anxiety and self-loathing keeps you up nights, all that suffering won\u2019t help you if it doesn\u2019t motivate you enough<\/a> to commit to the obligations inherent in the achievement of the goal. This applies to all kinds of commitments, from professional to personal.<\/p>\n

2. You\u2019ve got low self-esteem<\/h4>\n

Fear of commitment can mean we\u2019re constantly not seeing things through<\/strong>. Those who fear commitment never want to exclude options for greater happiness, and so they can\u2019t settle on any one path. But not seeing things through chips away at our confidence in being able to build anything lasting after a while.<\/p>\n

And once you\u2019ve given up once, it gets easier and easier to give up on things without any pangs of conscience. Once you\u2019re heading down that path, it\u2019s not long before you start feeling like you\u2019ve got nothing to contribute.<\/p>\n

3. You refuse to give up any of your freedom<\/h4>\n

Jobs, relationships, even family obligations seem too much of a burden. Everything that isn\u2019t the pursuit of your own pleasure seems like slavery<\/strong> to you. If only you could run off into the forest and forage for food, right \u2013 where no one would bother you?<\/p>\n

Go free camping for a couple of days with no food and come and talk to me again about freedom. Survival itself takes commitment<\/strong>. It\u2019s a commitment you don\u2019t get a choice about; but if you think you were born free, and by rights, you should be free to live without a struggle, think again.<\/p>\n

4. You avoid problems and people associated with them<\/h4>\n

A fear of commitment can also manifest as an inability to face difficulties and people associated with them when things go wrong<\/a>. In its extreme manifestation, a commitment-phobic person might disappear altogether from a relationship, job, or project at the first sign of trouble or boredom<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Most people are not so cowardly, but many still find it extremely difficult to stick with anything through difficult times. Of course, you shouldn\u2019t stick with situations that you know are never going to benefit you. But if you\u2019re always running away when it gets tough, then your fear of commitment could be undermining your strength of character.<\/p>\n

5. You\u2019re bored<\/h4>\n

When you\u2019re not working on anything big enough to require a commitment and you\u2019re never allowing yourself to be challenged, sooner or later you\u2019ll be bored of life.<\/p>\n

If all your relationship with the world consists in what you\u2019re getting out of it without any investment on your part, all your experiences will be as superficial as what you put into them<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

6. You fly from one thing to the next<\/h4>\n

When you\u2019ve got a fear of commitment, your life is like a record player that always gets stuck mid-song. You\u2019re always starting something new and always hopeful that this will finally be the thing that makes you happy.<\/p>\n

If you find that this is happening repeatedly, you should examine either the wisdom of your choices and the reasoning behind them, or your attitude<\/strong> to sticking things out.<\/p>\n

If you find that you\u2019re always ducking out at the first sign of responsibility and difficulty, you might have to face some difficult truths, before trying in earnest to overcome yourself.<\/p>\n

7. You don\u2019t feel like you can depend on\u00a0your friends<\/h4>\n

One thing about commitment is that it entails sticking at one thing for a prolonged period of time. This means that you form friendships with people that become strong and close because of the time you\u2019ve invested in them<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re a person who never commits to anything or anyone, you have plenty of friends, but if you\u2019re in real trouble, you find you can\u2019t really lean on anyone of them for any serious help. This is because you haven\u2019t invested in forming serious relationships<\/a>. No one feels they can rely on you, and reciprocally, you can rely on no one<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Commitment<\/p>\n

The good thing about commitment is that it allows for a degree of stability<\/a> that can help you build something of lasting value<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What you don\u2019t want is to wake up one morning and realize you haven\u2019t got anything to show for the time that\u2019s passed<\/strong>, and you haven\u2019t got the energy to start anything either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fear of commitment is a common phobia, and even those who are comfortable with making some commitments in their lives don’t do so lightly. Before we talk about the fear of commitment, let’s give a definition of the word “commitment” first. It means a pledge, and something binding you to a particular path of action. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":22353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","osh_disable_topbar_sticky":"default","osh_disable_header_sticky":"default","osh_sticky_header_style":"default","osh_sticky_header_effect":"","osh_custom_sticky_logo":0,"osh_custom_retina_sticky_logo":0,"osh_custom_sticky_logo_height":0,"osh_background_color":"","osh_links_color":"","osh_links_hover_color":"","osh_links_active_color":"","osh_links_bg_color":"","osh_links_hover_bg_color":"","osh_links_active_bg_color":"","osh_menu_social_links_color":"","osh_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"off","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,46,15],"tags":[18,84,19,144,34,145,178],"class_list":["post-22345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-relationships","category-relationships-and-social-life","category-self-improvement","tag-happiness","tag-health","tag-life","tag-relationships-2","tag-self-esteem","tag-self-improvement","tag-work","entry","has-media"],"yoast_head":"\n7 Signs Your Fear of Commitment Is Preventing You from Being Happy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Fear of commitment is a common phobia, and even those who are comfortable with making some commitments in their lives don't do so lightly.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/fear-of-commitment-being-happy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"7 Signs Your Fear of Commitment Is Preventing You from Being Happy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fear of commitment is a common phobia, and even those who are comfortable with making some commitments in their lives don't do so lightly.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/fear-of-commitment-being-happy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Life Advancer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lifeadvancer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/caroline.june.5\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-07T07:53:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-08T13:37:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Fear-of-Commitment-Preventing-Being-Happy.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"524\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Caroline Hindle, M.A.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LifeAdvancer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LifeAdvancer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Caroline Hindle, M.A.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"7 Signs Your Fear of Commitment Is Preventing You from Being Happy","description":"Fear of commitment is a common phobia, and even those who are comfortable with making some commitments in their lives don't do so lightly.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/fear-of-commitment-being-happy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"7 Signs Your Fear of Commitment Is Preventing You from Being Happy","og_description":"Fear of commitment is a common phobia, and even those who are comfortable with making some commitments in their lives don't do so lightly.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/fear-of-commitment-being-happy\/","og_site_name":"Life Advancer","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lifeadvancer\/","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/caroline.june.5","article_published_time":"2017-02-07T07:53:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-09-08T13:37:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":850,"height":524,"url":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Fear-of-Commitment-Preventing-Being-Happy.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Caroline Hindle, M.A.","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@LifeAdvancer","twitter_site":"@LifeAdvancer","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Caroline Hindle, M.A.","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/fear-of-commitment-being-happy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/fear-of-commitment-being-happy\/"},"author":{"name":"Caroline Hindle, M.A.","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/753612b87eeaf770cdf47931c818feb5"},"headline":"7 Signs Your Fear of Commitment Is Preventing You from Being Happy","datePublished":"2017-02-07T07:53:46+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-08T13:37:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/fear-of-commitment-being-happy\/"},"wordCount":1027,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/fear-of-commitment-being-happy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Fear-of-Commitment-Preventing-Being-Happy.jpg","keywords":["happiness","health","life","relationships","self-esteem","self-improvement","work"],"articleSection":["Relationships","Relationships & Social Life","Self-Improvement"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/fear-of-commitment-being-happy\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/fear-of-commitment-being-happy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/fear-of-commitment-being-happy\/","name":"7 Signs Your Fear of Commitment Is Preventing You from Being Happy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/fear-of-commitment-being-happy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/fear-of-commitment-being-happy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Fear-of-Commitment-Preventing-Being-Happy.jpg","datePublished":"2017-02-07T07:53:46+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-08T13:37:09+00:00","description":"Fear of commitment is a common phobia, and even those who are comfortable with making some commitments in their lives don't do so lightly.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/fear-of-commitment-being-happy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/fear-of-commitment-being-happy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/fear-of-commitment-being-happy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Fear-of-Commitment-Preventing-Being-Happy.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Fear-of-Commitment-Preventing-Being-Happy.jpg","width":850,"height":524,"caption":"Fear of Commitment Preventing Being Happy"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/fear-of-commitment-being-happy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"7 Signs Your Fear of Commitment Is Preventing You from Being Happy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/","name":"Life Advancer","description":"Your Guide to Life Improvement","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#organization","name":"Life Advancer","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/lifeadvancer-sticky-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/lifeadvancer-sticky-logo-white.png","width":300,"height":58,"caption":"Life Advancer"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lifeadvancer\/","https:\/\/x.com\/LifeAdvancer","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/life_advancer\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/lifeadvancer\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/Lifeadvancers"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/753612b87eeaf770cdf47931c818feb5","name":"Caroline Hindle, M.A.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Caroline-Hindle-Avatar.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Caroline-Hindle-Avatar.jpg","caption":"Caroline Hindle, M.A."},"description":"Caroline Hindle is a professional writer, editor, and translator based in the UK. She has an M.A. in Ancient World Studies from the University of Manchester and has earned the Senior Johnson Prize for Best Finalist in Classical Subjects. Caroline has over 6 years of experience in writing and editing and has worked for companies like Macmillan Publishers Ltd. She also has vast experience in teaching the English language to non-native speakers and has worked as an English teacher in Greece for more than 5 years. Caroline has a wide spectrum of interests, including philosophy, history, science, literature, politics, morality, and popular culture. You can follow her on Linkedin.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/caroline.june.5","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/caroline-hindle-186b58a3\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/author\/carolia\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeadvancer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}