Keep Promises to Yourself

Every day I make promises to myself.

“I will wake up earlier.”

“I will go to bed earlier, so I can wake up earlier.”

“I will start this diet plan.”

“I will work toward my business idea.”

Making promises. Then, because they are very light goals, I will break them. On and on it goes.
“I can’t get up early today because my muscles are sore from yesterday’s workout.”

“I don’t have to go to bed earlier. I got some important things to finish; I’ll still get up at the earlier time.”
“I can’t work on writing today because I’m not feeling well.”

I know I am not alone in creating these excuses. Most importantly, breaking promises to yourself sets terrible precedents. If you break one, it gets easier to break another.

Some of the most successful and driven people get to where they are because they don’t break their promises. They fight through sickness to write, create ideas, sell the product, and code a website.

Instead of going to sleep earlier, their passion wakes them up early to start the day. They are excited about what may come. I’m not saying they don’t have days when their mind tempts them.

Where the mind says, “Just this one time, stay in bed.” They don’t allow it to stop them often. Where others say, it is okay if you don’t get things done today, just do it tomorrow.

It is okay to take time off and let your mind and body rest. I’m talking about the moments you swore to yourself you would work on this project but decide to do something else.

It may be procrastination, which I talk about here. Often it is just the little things in our minds that self-imposed roadblocks. How much time do you lose from an extra 30 minutes of sleep?

The main lesson is discipline. It takes discipline to succeed, and when you break those little promises, you break your discipline. This stalls your momentum.

 
Sometimes we lose our motivation. We are human, after all. But there are important things to keep in mind to help you keep your promises to yourself, your momentum, and your drive.

SMART goals. Often taught in every personal development and goal-setting course, it includes setting achievable or realistic goals. Humans can complete far more than they think they can over the long term. Sometimes we have more significant expectations than our capabilities. Sometimes this works in our favor, especially over a longer time horizon.

Our issues usually show themselves in the short term. We heap too much on ourselves and then become disappointed when we don’t complete the task, get up as we planned, or things don’t get done as we’d hoped.

Don’t tell yourself you’ll wake up at 4 AM every morning if you’re going to sleep at midnight and need at least six hours of sleep. It isn’t realistic. Is that realistic if you have a family and you think you can write and record an entire podcast in a day?
You should have a baseline level of knowledge about what your average day looks like and your capabilities if you push yourself a little bit harder. At the baseline of what you know, you can do. Start there.

 
Start with something realistic and push on from there. Then start to push from there rather than making exotic declarations. Similar to how people think they can go from never going to the gym to working out five days a week.

Human minds can only retain so much information. The more promises you make, the more activities you have to track. Planners can help keep our days organized, but the key to keeping your promises to yourself and achieving your goals is to start small.

 
In the circus, they sometimes have an act where a person spins many plates on sticks. To spin all those plates, they start one plate at a time. Sometimes they’ll get to 8 or 9, even 10 plates, all spinning simultaneously on poles they are holding.
Start by making yourself one promise. Wake up time. Workout. Diet. Whatever it is, do it consistently. Then add another plate. Then add another plate. Wait until you get it comfortably spinning, meaning you have it as a habit.

 
Don’t overburden yourself. Before you know it, you’ll be able to accomplish much more than you thought and be consistent. We can’t start at the finish line. We have to build our endurance to make it there.

Even the little ones. When you hit those marks and keep your promises to yourself, celebrate. When I finish a run, I give a big fist pump or clap as my celebration.

 
Celebrating wins is like rewarding yourself for succeeding. Positive reinforcement can go a long way to motivate yourself to keep going.

We all require different stimuli, but if you like to be recognized, it is okay to recognize yourself.

 
You can do this for others you are trying to motivate. Take a moment to recognize the small accomplishments. The road to achieving goals can be long and difficult. It is good to receive some recognition on the way.

Keep your promises to yourself. Many people make little deals with themselves about what they will accomplish. We think about what we want to complete and promise ourselves we will get it done. As the time gets closer, we begin by taking some time off here or surfing too much Youtube there.

 
We find ways to justify this decision, and it gets easier to break the promises. Our word only has as much value as we give it.
You can keep these promises to yourself by setting realistic goals. Sometimes in our ambition, it is tempting to stack up tasks because we think we can complete them. Instead, we frustrate ourselves because we can’t and are still breaking these promises.

Limit the promises you make yourself. It may be tempting to do seven different projects because you want to complete them all. You are only one person, so it is best to focus on one activity at a time. Once it is established, move to the next one.
Celebrate the little wins. Every little move we make toward our goals matters, and you should recognize yourself and others for these strides.

Everything you do trains your mind. If you make a promise, you can train your brain that you never break the promise. Establishing this habit over time programs your brain to know that once you set your mind to something, you will see it, though.

Create the habits for success. See you on the other side.