What does it mean that commitment exit criteria?

Define in advance what conditions would justify releasing a commitment.

Example: You accept a new role at a startup because the mission excites you, the equity offer is compelling, and the team is strong. But you have been burned before by staying too long in situations that decayed slowly. So before your first day, you write three exit criteria on a card and seal it in an envelope: (1) If the company misses payroll even once, I leave within 30 days. (2) If I no longer believe in the product's core thesis after 12 months, I start looking. (3) If my direct manager changes and the replacement does not share my values around autonomy, I give it 90 days and then reassess. Fourteen months later, the product pivots to something you find ethically questionable. You open the envelope. Criterion two is met. You do not agonize, do not rationalize, do not wait for things to get better. You start your search that week — not because the moment feels right, but because your past self already made the decision.

Try this: Choose one active commitment that you suspect may have already passed its expiration — a project, a relationship, a habit, a role, a subscription, a recurring obligation. Write down three conditions under which you would release this commitment. Be specific: use numbers, dates, or observable states, not feelings. Now ask yourself honestly — has any of these conditions already been met? If the answer is yes, you have your first test of whether you can honor exit criteria after the fact. If the answer is no, file the criteria somewhere you will encounter them at your next review point. Either way, you now have a written standard for this commitment that did not exist five minutes ago.