One of the best attributes you can live by that will produce fantastic results in your life is this:

DO WHAT YOU SAY YOU WILL DO.

Keep your commitments.

In the book,  The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz, the first agreement is this:

“be impeccable with your word.”

Impeccable means being beyond criticism.

It means you do what you say you will do.

 

Have you ever …

Had someone tell you “I’ll call you tomorrow” and they never did?

Had someone tell you “I’m sending you something” and they never did?

Had plans to meet up with someone … and they never showed?

Pretty sure it’s happened to you.

How did it make you feel?

Not so good – right?

Now let me ask you … have you ever done that to someone else?

OUCH!

I hate to admit it – I’ve forgotten to call someone when I said I would.

And even though we can make excuses and apologize all over the place …

It still comes down to “keeping your word”

We met a guy at the casino the other night  when we went to see the Foreigner tribute band. He sat at our table and before the concert started, we had time to get to know each other better.

He was enthralled with our hippie lifestyle …. I was inspired by his recovery from a stroke.

As we left the concert, he asked if we would like tickets to the upcoming Eagles’ tribute concert.

My eyes lit up.  I knew it was sold out. I said “absolutely!”

He said he would call me on Monday.  Then he looked me straight in the eyes and said, “I keep my word. I’ll call you.”

AND he did.

If he had never called me, I would have chalked it up to “oh well, it would have been nice but he was just a big talker.”

If he had called me on Wednesday instead of Monday, I would have understood  because we’re so programmed to accept mishaps and apologies.

But the fact that he called when he said he would, moved him to the top of the chart of impeccable people.

And isn’t that where we should be?

Nothing is easier than saying words. Nothing is harder than living them day after day.   — Arthur Gordon

As you’re building relationships with people in your business …

and as you are strengthening the relationships you have with your friends and family …

Do what you say you will do.

That’s it, period.

The impact of being the person who keeps her word is infinitely more powerful than all the apologies and “I’ll make it up to you” promises you make when you don’t do what you say you will do.

But, it’s not enough to keep commitments in business and personal relationships.

In fact, it’s even more important that you keep your commitment to yourself.

How many times has this happened?

You commit to reading 15 minutes a day … and after a week or two, you’re not doing it. You justify the neglect because you are so dang busy building your business.

You start meditating first thing every morning.  It goes well for a while, then one morning you sit down and boot up the laptop just to check something first – and well, the focus switches and you’re off chasing squirrels.

You commit to blogging every day … but one day, it’s just one of those days and you don’t feel like there is an ounce of creativity or inspiration in you, so you excuse yourself

Maybe you decided to start walking every day for your health.  It felt good for a few weeks, until one day you got too busy, so you skipped which made it easier to skip the next day … and soon, you’re not walking at all.

Here’s the thing.

You’ve told yourself “I’m going to (meditate, read, walk, blog)” and you didn’t keep your word to yourself.

Do you see that this is a reason for the discord which translates into not manifesting your desires?

Something is out of tune and needs to be aligned.

Do you see that you are not being truthful?

Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.
― Albert Einstein

The effect (no results) is caused by the repeated practice of not doing what you say you will do.

If you tell yourself one thing, but don’t follow through, the self-sabotaging belief you are affirming to your subconscious mind gains more power.

You’ve done this before.  Your subconscious mind just has to pull out the reminders …

“Oh here we go again – been down this road before.  Remember the last time – you never kept your commitment?”

“I’ll give you a week … that’s your usual pattern.”

“Sure thing buddy – go for it! (snicker)”

When you fail to keep your word to yourself,  you begin to give excuses to justify your lack of commitment.  You probably begin to blame something or someone.

You start to feel less confident … you get frustrated … you feel worthless – AGAIN.

Each time you fail to do what you say you will do, you start the snowball effect of negative thoughts and feelings that continue to roll until another avalanche of doubt and worthlessness knocks you down.

What can you do to stop breaking these commitments to yourself?

Be accountable.

 

You could get an accountability partner.  That’s what is always recommended.

It sounds great, doesn’t it?  Hook up with someone who you have to report to, who will not coddle and comfort you, but instead will kick you in the ass every day.

That takes a huge time commitment for both of you.  It works for some,  but what I’ve experienced is this… we’re crazy busy and we’re softies.

We understand and empathize with all the excuses (because we’ve made them, too).

So as much as we want to be the drill sergeant, the time factor and our nurturing personality makes us incapable of keeping someone on task.

Besides, in the end, the only one who suffers if you don’t keep your word is YOU. 

It makes no difference to your accountability partner,  no matter how much they bark at you and motivate you to keep going.

It still all comes down to YOU.

The best accountability partner for you is YOU. 

You know yourself best.  You know your strengths, you know your weaknesses.

You know all your excuses and the triggers that come up to stop you.

Be your own accountability partner.

Are you willing to do that?

If you understand what I’m sharing here, you will have a new insight about how to make a commitment and keep it, and why it’s so crucial to your success.

THE PROBLEM WITH 90 DAY CHALLENGES

Have you ever been part of a challenge – like a 90 day challenge?  Did you complete it?

Most people never finish a challenge like that.

Even with a commitment to a group challenge, you are still only accountable to yourself.  Again, it’s because it doesn’t affect anyone else’s results if you don’t keep your word.  It only affects YOU.

Here’s my suggestion today.  This is something that I have done several times and it has been amazing how it worked to help me keep my word.

START YOUR OWN 30 DAY CHALLENGE

Make a commitment to do something for 30 days straight, without fail.

Choose something that you know is a goal you have, something that is doable, but also will stretch you a little out of your comfort zone.

Choose something that you’ve been trying to do consistently, that you KNOW will benefit your growth.  This could be a challenge for your business growth, or for your own personal development or health.

IF YOU CHOOSE TO SET A BUSINESS CHALLENGE:

Choose something that will contribute to your business, such as daily blog posts, daily videos, daily emails.

Announce what you are going to be providing for the next 30 days, either in a blog post, an email to your list or in your first video.

Here’s the important part.  Make sure your title includes the number of each episode – Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and so on.   For example,  Day 1 of 30 Days of __________________.

Now, you just create the content and share it every single day.

Here’s what this kind of challenge will do.   

• It makes you accountable to yourself.
• It makes you do what you say you are going to do.

Numbering the series is a huge factor because you realize you can’t skip a day.

It doesn’t matter if anyone else notices if you missed day 5, and they probably won’t.  But, YOU will know it.

IF YOU CHOOSE TO SET A PERSONAL CHALLENGE

A personal challenge could be journaling every day or walking for 30 minutes a day, or drinking a full glass of water first thing every morning.

Choose something that you have been “meaning” to do, but never have made it a habit instead of a whim.

TIPS FOR SETTING UP YOUR CHALLENGE:

1. Start small. 90 days is a huge commitment.  30 is doable.  If you have to start out with less than 30 days, that’s okay.  But remember that it takes at least 30 days to change a habit.

As long as you’re working on developing the habit of keeping your word , the added benefit is that you will also develop the daily habit that helps you grow yourself and/or your business.

2.  Write down what you are going to focus on in your business challenge.  Make a list of all the ideas for blog posts/videos that come to mind.

The more time you take to make this list before you start, the easier it will be to start writing every day or grab the camera.  Plan your topics before you begin.

3.  Write about what have been obstacles for you in the past.  What excuses have you made for not keeping your commitment?  Why have you not completed a challenge?

4.  For every obstacle, every excuse – write what you are going to do instead when they show up. I can assure you they WILL show up.  Addressing this now will give you the tools you need to overcome the obstacles when they appear.

5.  Celebrate keeping your commitment every single day.  If you journal, write about your daily success every night.    Celebrate daily, but also plan to reward yourself for completing your challenge.  Pick a treat that you will enjoy when you complete the 30 day challenge.

This challenge will be a challenge for sure.  It will increase your confidence, develop a good habit and help you to move further toward your desires.

Most of all, you will transform from a slacker to the person who will always do what you say you will do.

What will be your 30 day challenge?

 

Trisha
p:  573-881-6715
f:   facebook.com/trishajbarnes
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P.S.  We live the Freedom Lifestyle. We can work from anywhere we choose to be. We can be across the country visiting friends and family, walking on the beach, climbing the red rocks in Sedona, or parked in a campground. And we can still work ON our business. This business does not require me to punch a clock, sit in commuter traffic wasting hours we could be spending together, waking up at some crazy hour just to make it to work. We get to work with people we choose to work with, whose company we enjoy. We are the CEOs of us – the Naked Hippies!

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