Convocation guests Shawn Johnson and Andrew East share lessons on committing to faith-filled goals

For former professional athletes and New York Times bestselling authors Shawn Johnson East and Andrew East, life right now is about committing to the opportunities God has placed in their path.

The couple encouraged students at Liberty University’s Convocation on Wednesday to be bold in choosing to stick to their own paths when facing an overwhelming number of options in today’s world.

Shawn, an Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast, and Andrew, a former NFL long snapper, are the parents of three and co-authors of the recently released book, “The Courage to Commit.”

“You don’t just get up to achieving your goals, you don’t get on the podium or make it to the NFL without committing to something for a long duration of time,” East said. “These things are built over time and it’s also the journey that makes everything more worthwhile. It’s the journey where you learn things.”

Vice President of Spiritual Development Josh Rutledge led the Easts in a discussion on why commitment is important today and how students can discern when and what to commit to. Shawn Johnson East talked about her Olympic goals growing up and the lack of fulfillment she felt after achieving those goals. When she retired from gymnastics, rather than feeling the freedom of a life unhindered by her rigid routines, she felt lost and without purpose for a time.

 “When you aimlessly wander through life with no direction, I think it’s actually more challenging. When you filter your life through your goals and you stick with them, it makes saying yes and no easier,” she said.

The couple talked about cultural narratives that often make a lack of commitment seem like the best option. They asserted that doing the hard work of making a decision and sticking to it is worth the risk of potentially failing.

“When I have erred, I’ve made the mistake of thinking it’s better to choose nothing than it is to choose the wrong thing, and I think there’s a bit of courage in saying ‘Hey, we’re going to go and make this good option the best option,’” Andrew East said.

“To go against millions of voices that you hear every single day and say, ‘You know what, I’m actually going to stick with this, even though it’s hard, even though I don’t love it right now, even though it’s not fun,’ culture would say you’re crazy,” Shawn Johnson East added. “It takes a lot of bravery, and you second guess yourself all the time, but with practice it gets easier.”

When it comes to making decisions, having a firm foundation of faith and values is the guiding light for the Easts. They said they are often faced with multiple opportunities, and they measure those against their family values before agreeing to them, knowing that often committing to one thing will likely mean saying no to other positive options. Sometimes, they said, the element of courage in commitment is to accept that you can’t do it all.

“We are not proposing you just jump into things willy-nilly without being thoughtful. I do think there’s a process you should go through in being thoughtful and intentional in your choice, but at some point, you put your head down and you make the choice and say ‘Hey, I had multiple good options and now I’m going to go with this one,’” Andrew East said. “It’s in that process that you become prepared for whatever’s next.”

“We always try to encourage people to filter your options — not on what the culture or world says is the best but what you love the best … what deep down in your gut are you called to,” Shawn Johnson East said. “It might not be the biggest salary or the best location or it might go against what someone’s advising you to do, but in your gut you probably have one that calls to you. Just go all in on it. And if it falls apart, you take another one and you start over.”