Are you good at keeping your promises to others but can’t seem to keep your promises to yourself? Do you even trust yourself?
How often have you promised yourself that you would save money, lose weight, or clean up your kitchen junk drawer?
You’ve probably made thousands of promises to yourself, most of which have been broken.
This is something you do every day.
It might be as simple as telling yourself while watching TV, “I’m going to start working on the task at the next ad.”
However, the commercial comes and goes, and you make a new agreement with yourself.
This has ramifications. You’re teaching yourself that you don’t have to be serious about yourself. You are lying to yourself!
You are inadvertently teaching yourself that failing at what you set out to do is acceptable.
It is critical to trust and believe in yourself. After all, who can you trust if you can’t trust yourself?
Use the following ways to maintain your promises to yourself and add integrity to all aspects of your life:
1. Use Your Past as a Guide. If you promised yourself that you would drop 50 pounds but fell short, it might be time to set a more realistic target.
Losing 10 pounds five times equals 50 pounds lost all at once. Make yourself reasonable agreements.
2. Write Down Your Promises to Yourself. Thoughts are strange things. They have the appearance of being honest, yet they aren’t.
Writing them down makes them more solid. Keep your written promises to yourself somewhere you can view them frequently. Review them several times per day.
3. Ask Yourself if You Meant it and Listen to the Answer. You know deep down if you’re serious about your promises.
If you commit yourself, consider whether you genuinely intend to keep it.
Listen to and respect the response you receive. If you’re not going to keep your commitment to yourself, make another one.
4. Modify Your Beliefs About How You Keep Your Promises. Most of us do better at maintaining promises to others than honoring our promises.
A portion of you believes that it is acceptable to let oneself down.
If you consider yourself on par with everyone else in terms of importance, you will not put up with this approach.
5. Accept the Discomfort That Comes with Keeping Promises to Yourself. Why don’t you keep your word?
It’s only because doing so is more difficult than not doing it.
So, if you were better at dealing with discomfort, it comes to reason that you would keep more of your promises.
When you’re feeling uneasy, be resolute to get through it.
It is a propensity to avoid or confront discomfort. Create the habit that will benefit you the most.
Dealing with discomfort is one of the most important abilities you can learn.
6. What Would You Think of People Who Didn’t Keep Promises to You? What would you think of someone who made promises to you and then broke them frequently?
Would you date or call that person a friend for a long time? When you breach a promise to yourself, you think less of yourself.
You may notice this by wondering how you would react if someone did the same thing to you. You probably wouldn’t think much of them.
That’s what you’re doing to your self-esteem. This has no positive outcome. Because it happens every day, you may not notice it.
Why it’s Important to Keep Your Promises!
Fulfilling agreements with yourself is often more important than keeping promises to others, yet we tend to break our promises.
The damage you cause to your relationship with yourself impacts every aspect of your life.
Treat yourself with respect and keep the agreements you make to yourself.
The integrity you develop with yourself will help you maintain all of your promises. It will impact all you do.
