Are you Keeping your Promises?
| Career & Work Life Matters ISSN 2150-6299 Vol 2, no. 16 |
||
 What are you promising yourself? |
How easy is it to keep the promises you make to yourself? Read this article to discover why it can help to share the promises you make to yourself. Even small steps can help you to avoid being distracted from what is most important. | |
Are you Keeping your Promises?
A promise is defined as “a declaration that
something will or will not be done“.
When was the last time you were on the receiving
end of a broken promise? How did you feel?
Disappointed? Upset? Angry?
How do you feel if you don’t keep your promises to
yourself? Does it drain your energy?
Sometimes it is easier to keep out commitments to
others than to keep our commitments to ourselves.
Research shows that an effective way to increase
commitment to a goal is to share it publicly.
Declaring an intention helps to follow it through.
The Benefit of External Reminders
This week I have been experimenting with
participating in a new accountability group. Each
day we declare a specific goal at the beginning of the
day and then report on whether or not we “keep our
promise” at the end of day.
If it sounds simple, it is. But in this era of so many
distractions having easy daily reminders definitely helps with focus.
This is especially true when
it’s time to do the tasks I would prefer to avoid!
Sometimes even a simple external structure
can make a big difference.
Managing Distractions
What promises have you made or do you want to make
that you haven’t yet begun?
What support do you need to get started?
What is getting in your way or competing for your attention?
Making changes to your career and work life is not
a linear process. It’s typically a series of steps, beginning,
making some progress, stalling, and beginning
again.
It’s easy to get distracted from your goals when
change takes time, you don’t get the outcomes you expect or other
demands pull you away.
Nietzsche said:
“One must have a good memory to be
able to keep the promises one makes.”
What can you do to jog your memory and provide easy reminders
of your promises to yourself?
What do you do to help you stay focused on what is most important?
What helps you keep your promises to yourself?
Share your experiences in the comment box below.
