Keeping your promises to yourself requires boundaries.
Keeping your promises is vital. When you follow through on a promise you’ve made, it builds trust, both between yourself and others AND within yourself.
And yet, this is a very difficult challenge for many.
Making time for life’s daily demands requires focus and discipline. It can be hard work, and it often helps to reward yourself with a treat or a favorite activity after you’ve put in the effort to accomplish necessary tasks.
How are you at keeping your promises to yourself? It’s really important that you make good on what you’ve said you’ll do. And you enjoy 3 immediate benefits when you reward yourself consistently.
- You provide yourself with the enjoyment you deserve. You brighten your outlook and return to your daily life refreshed and alert.
- You build your trust in yourself. In the same way that a child looks to a parent to keep promises, you integrate your energy by matching your words with your actions. You deserve to be as good a friend to yourself as you are to others.
- You strengthen your self-discipline. When you replace empty promises with concrete action, you heighten your incentive to focus on tasks.
To set this positive cycle in motion, follow these guidelines:
1. Actions not words.
If you are used to pushing past your own promises to yourself, start small. Never make a promise you may not be able to follow through on.
2. Don’t retract; reschedule.
When life throws you a curve ball, don’t cave in. Simply replace the reward that evaporated with a new one you create.
3. Aim for success.
Set the bar low enough to succeed. Don’t punish yourself with rewards that are conditional upon achieving overambitious tasks.
4. Go public.
If you need reinforcement, tell a friend what you intend to do. Report in, or ask your friend to check in to ensure you’re keeping your promise to yourself.
5. Daily does it.
Build in a small reward every day or so. Practice builds proficiency.
6. Build up.
Gradually escalate to larger rewards. Include friends in your choices. Be sure not to let them down either.
7. Free treats.
As you establish strong patterns of success, build in time for yourself that is not dependent upon achievement. For example, take one day a month off to do whatever you want to do, no matter what. This enables you to recharge your energy and enhance your creativity.
You reap other rewards, too:
- Your health benefits when you remain alert and refreshed.
- You keep current with what you truly enjoy, so you become more skilled at providing meaningful rewards for yourself.
- The more you look to yourself for satisfaction, the less you place unrealistic demands upon others to make you happy. So your relationships thrive.
- You recognize the daily pleasures that surround you when you build balance into your life. Therefore, you’re less susceptible to urgency and defeatism.
Remember, time for yourself is always within your power. So, what is your next step for building balance and finding time?
Here’s more help with keeping your promises…
Setting and maintaining boundaries is a skill that makes everything else in your life possible. And it’s a difficult challenge for lots of smart, motivated people. People like you.
“Your Secret Power: How to Honor Your Time and Claim Your Space with Boundaries” gently steers you to a more profound understanding of where and how your boundary-setting efforts get short-circuited. Not only that, but it helps you establish the boundaries you need to unlock the door to your freedom. Boundary-setting is a skill that’s learnable, doable and definitely within your reach. And the strategies, tips and exercises in “Your Secret Power” help you discover how to:
- Set and maintain boundaries to enhance your productivity and, yes, make more money;
- Recharge your energy so you have the time and freedom to do what you value and what you’d like to do in your life; and
- Learn how to say no, which opens the door to your next big Yes.
Ready to start using boundaries to maximize your time and energy? Click the link below to learn more about this transformative time tool and the bonuses that come with it:
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