決意 and 覚悟: resolve to continue and readiness for difficulty
Read 決意 as resolve to continue a challenge or take on a job, and 覚悟 as readiness for difficulties or criticism. Compare their overlap in resolve without treating expected events as completed facts.
Resolving to continue or take something on
決意 (けつい) focuses on determination to do something. 「彼女は最後まで挑戦を続けると決意した。」 means “She resolved to keep trying until the end.” The resolution concerns continuing the challenge; the sentence does not say that she has already completed it.
「新しい仕事に向き合う決意を家族に伝えた。」 means “She told her family of her determination to take on the new job.” What she communicated was her resolve to engage with the work. Telling the family does not establish successful performance or the family's agreement.
Being ready to face what may follow
覚悟 (かくご) includes readiness and resolve. 「困難が続くことを覚悟して長い計画に取り組んだ。」 means “Prepared for continuing difficulties, we began the long-term plan.” The example combines beginning the plan with readiness for the difficulties expected to continue.
「強い批判を受ける覚悟はできている。」 means “I am ready to face severe criticism.” The speaker is prepared to face criticism. That readiness does not establish that criticism has already occurred or explain why the speaker might be criticized.
A useful distinction with overlapping meanings
決意 is useful to read through what someone has resolved to do; 覚悟 is useful to read through what they are ready to face. Their meanings overlap in resolve. A person can have determination to take something on and readiness for its difficulties at the same time.
Do not make the pair fixed stages before and after a decision, or a scale of weak and strong resolve. Determination does not guarantee achievement, and readiness does not make an expected difficulty a past event. Identify the intended action and the difficulty being accepted in each sentence.
Does being ready to face severe criticism establish that the criticism has already happened?
Show the answer and why
No. 覚悟 here expresses readiness to face criticism. The occurrence of criticism and its cause require separate evidence. When comparing it with 決意, retain the overlap in resolve rather than imposing an absolute divide.