Keeping Your Promises

Many times we promise ourselves something and never follow through. For example, we may tell ourselves I am going to stop drinking coffee, I am going to exercise more or I promise to make a financial plan, three weeks later, you find yourself groggy trying to convinces the voices inside your head why you need coffee, you notice your gym bag is in the corner due to the excuses of not enough time and the excel spread sheet is still empty.

When a person disappoints us, we are hurt and angry but why do we tend to justify ourselves when we don’t keep our personal promises to improve our lives. I have talked about the art of patience and persistence earlier and I would like to review this concept once again.

If you make small changes it will lead to big results. I can say myself that I am hard on myself and expect things to happen overnight, I do realize this is not realistic and sometimes I want instant gratification.

I had to unlearn this and realize anything we want to accomplish is a journey and process. The art of patience and persistence it the most important lesson.

I was internally stressed which led to mindless eating. I also found myself to be very anxious and short tempered, and I wanted to relax so I decided to concentrate on my yoga practice again. My main excuse was that I couldn’t afford classes, I sat down and wrote out my goal and how I was going to make it happen. I have yoga DVD’s at home, so I simply dusted them off and said I would start two days a week in the mornings. At first I found myself searching for excuses, but then I stopped myself and found another lesson within this process. If I can’t count on or depend on myself to do the right thing for me, why would I expect anyone else to do so?

So I started every Tuesday and Thursday morning. I practice yoga after my walk, a month later, I am calmer, organized, and a few inches smaller. My yoga practice is a habit now, just like brushing my teeth and combing my hair. I want to add another day and eventually five days a week.

I am proud that I kept this promise to myself. By keeping my promise, I feel that it gave me a since of accountability and helped me create boundaries for establishing positive and effective relationships with others. This is an effort of treating myself well so it can be reciprocated in many ways. My next goal is to stop checking my e-mail on my cell every five minutes, this will be a doozy but anything is possible !!! J

The following are a few tips that can help you keep your self promises:

Declare what you want to change – Take time and figure where you want to improve you life.

Write it down – Write down what you want to change and how you plan to change it. Remember this is for your benefit don’t worry about anyone else. You know your personal limitations and what makes you truly happy.

Mark the start date on your calendar – If this is for a temporary goal or something you want to make into a habit write the date you begin on your calendar. From there take monthly inventories and document changes and feelings. This will help you stay on track.

Stay Patient and persistent – If you fall off track, don’t worry, pick up where you left off and write about why you did. Remember, the best result is not only a new and improved you with accomplishing your goal but treating yourself well and being accountable for your actions.



What are some things that you do to keep your self promises?

xo,
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