Respect Promises Made to Yourself As If They Were Given to Someone Else
It’s easy to break a promise to yourself because it only affects you. This is why you should take the promises you make to yourself more seriously and how to start lightly so you don’t let yourself down again.
When you break a promise to someone else, you fail them and undermine their confidence. This knowledge keeps you from making promises of something you cannot do and pushes you to actually fulfill. Breaking a promise to yourself, however, may seem easy to you because you know you’re not letting anyone down. This can create a problem when you value other people’s needs much more than your own, so never take care of yourself. Lack of pursuit of personal well-being can lead to severe burnout and even depression. To counteract this, Michael E. Keibler of the Harvard Business Review invites you to start taking the promises you make to yourself as seriously as the promises you make to others:
… we advise people to start with one small but extremely meaningful promise to themselves – and stick to it with 100% honesty. For example, if you decide that spending more time with your family is most important to you, you might promise to have lunch together at home three times a week for the next two weeks. And, if you successfully keep that promise, it should give you the confidence to try something different: you can commit to walking for half an hour every weekday, or hone your presentation skills by taking a course in public speaking. Everyone knows the principle of customer service: “underestimation and overfulfillment”. Treat the promises you made to yourself in the same way.
Keep your promises realistic and actively plan how you will fulfill them. If you don’t think you can do something, don’t promise yourself that you can. You will not only take care of your own well-being, but also build your reliability over time. This self-confidence can boost your confidence and help you develop new habits. Read more at the link below.
Take Promises to Yourself as Seriously as Promises to Others | Harvard Business Review