Recently my friend Lorie wrote a blog post about becoming sober. She’d struggled with alcohol for a while and made the conscious decision to stop drinking. At the time of her post, she was celebrating being sober for an entire year and it was something that was so exciting to celebrate along with her. (You can find her post HERE).
Her post really got me thinking about the promises, or commitments, that we make to ourselves on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis. So many of us make promises to ourselves regarding exercise, finances, giving up a bad habit, etc., and then don’t keep them. In fact, we might repeat that pattern over and over again.
Promise: a declaration that one will do or refrain from doing something specified.
So, I thought I’d give us a few thoughts today on how we should approach those promises we make in our daily lives and encourage you in your (maybe) struggle to keep yours.
Only Promise What Matters
I talk about this a lot when it comes to budgeting and finance, but it applies in all other areas of our lives: if you aren’t truly sold on the end game (the goal) of whatever you are committing to, DON’T COMMIT TO IT!
Seriously.
When you commit to something you aren’t sold on, you won’t be happy sticking with it. It’s really as simple as that.
Of course, in life, we will have to do things we don’t truly enjoy but don’t promise yourself to something you don’t care for if it’s not 100% necessary. Take it from me, you’ll be happier if you don’t.
Do the Work
Can I just be honest: nothing that’s worth doing is going to come easy.
It’s going to take work.
It’s going to be frustrating at times.
It’s going to seem like you aren’t making any headway.
Does that mean you should give up? Maybe. But maybe not. Perhaps it’s just time to work harder. To focus. To prioritize.
It’s easy to see the success of others and forget that it took work to get to that point. You can’t be sober for an entire year without being sober for each individual day that makes up that year. Likewise, you can’t reach your goal of saving, debt payoff, or getting a million views on your blog, without putting in the day-to-day (hard) work that leads to that end result you can celebrate.
Follow Through
A lot of the time I feel like we decide to give up prematurely on promises we’ve made to ourselves. Think back to the last big promise you made to yourself that you didn’t stick with. Not a promise you made to others, but one you made to yourself. A lot of times those come in the form of New Year’s Resolutions. Did you make any of those this year?
If so, did you actually follow through?
How do you feel now, if you didn’t follow through? Maybe you are still carrying that extra weight…or drinking…or choosing to spend more than you make.
Trust me, I’ve been there, and I’m not here to beat you down today. Instead, I’d like to encourage you to look at why you didn’t stick with that promise. Was it too hard? Was it something that you really didn’t want to do to start with? Did you set an unreasonable expectation of yourself?
Whatever the reason, make the decision now that when you promise yourself you will do something, that it will really matter to you, it will be a reasonable expectation, and that you won’t give up, no matter what. You owe that to yourself.
Recognize that Others are Watching
From a mom standpoint, I have to ask: how do your kids view the promises you make to yourself?
Do they see you forego the promises you’ve made and think: my mom is always trying something new, and no matter what, she never sticks with it. She gives up easily and gets frustrated quickly. She never keeps a promise she makes to herself.
Or, on the other hand, do they think: No matter what happens, my mom always toughs it out. Even when she didn’t want to get up early and go to the gym, she did. Even when her blog wasn’t getting any views, she simply regrouped, worked harder, or tried a different approach. Even when she wanted to have new clothes or a new pair of shoes, she held off for a time so that we could have a motorhome to travel in.
Whatever it is you have promised yourself, remember that you are setting an example for your kids, your coworkers, and your friends as well. Show them that you value yourself, and help them see that they, too, should value themselves by keeping the promises they make, whether they be to themselves or to others.
Revamp Your Promises
I’d like to challenge you today to reconsider the promises you’ve made to yourself. They might be as simple as wanting to walk for 30 minutes every day or read a book this month. They might be as significant as putting the drinking aside or starting a small business. Whatever that promise is that you need to make, do so in such a way that you won’t give up.
Schedule it in. Tell everyone you know. Make it a priority.
What promises are you making today? Are you keeping them?
Tip 1: If you promised yourself that this was the year you’d start your budget – now’s the time! Grab my FREE Family Budget Workbook and get started today.
Tip 2: Need an accountability group to help you stay on track with your goals? New groups are opening regularly, so get yourself on the list HERE!
