Bind Yourself to Your Word

[Tia Peterson]

Recently, I had a frank discussion with my sister about the goings-on in my life, and I was complaining about the fact that I never seem to get anything accomplished - at least not what I set out to do. Things were always coming up that threw me off and messed up my time management and organization.

She responded with something so simple that it's almost impossible to do because we are highly complex beings that expect things to be more difficult than they are.

She said, 'bind yourself to your word.' Essentially, when you say you're going to do something, force yourself to go through with it. Don't lie to yourself. Keep the promises you make to yourself.

Seems easy, right? Wrong. We keep promises to others because of our reputation with them...

...but we don't keep promises to ourselves because we think it doesn't matter.

If you say to yourself, I'm going to mail that package today, and then you don't, you say, "I'll mail it tomorrow," but there is a problem with making that a habit. This is how to-do lists get out of control. We are constantly shifting priorities. In some circumstances that is OK; however, in most, it's not. If you say you're going to do something, do it.

You say, "but, newer, more important things come up all the time!" That's true, but don't be so quick to shift priorities just because something comes up. Keep that in check as much as you can.

It may sound strange, but I've always admired the people who can say "No" to someone's request and then walk away as if it were no big thing. They have confidence. They know what they want to accomplish and are not easily shifted. They are rocks. A good friend of mine from college is that way. She makes lists. She finishes everything on her list. If something comes up, she either amends the list or says "No." She's that way in most things in life.

And therein lies the key to this whole thing: you need to be that way in LIFE. Not just in business or just when it comes to time management and organization.

If you want to be someone who keeps her word to herself in business and with her to-do list, you need to be that person in life as well. That way, you do not need to worry about maintaining two types of personalities!

Who you are in life is who you are in business. The good news is that you can change who you are. So, if you don't like how your to-do list is constantly growing and you're never getting anything done, bind yourself to your word!

Cheers!

Tia

[Kelly Aluise]

I love that. Thank you!

[Tracy King]

Great blog, Tia! Thanks for posting it.