Promises to Ourselves

Let’s keep our promises to ourselves. Our blog about Boundaries unearthed a bigger problem about keeping promises to ourselves. Many friends are struggling with the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it. We often hear:

I know I should, but I don’t. 

Our social-media-driven world is filled with shoulds. You should look better, eat better, exercise better, work better, play better, and relate better. We’re bombarded with countless messages on how to do everything better. We can’t possibly do it all. 

Broken promises widen the gap between knowing and doing.

In the gap between knowing and doing, how many times have you made promises to yourself that you did not keep? 

I told myself I would , and then I didn’t. 

Broken promises to ourselves are poison. It weakens our sense of self-worth and creates self-doubt. We lose our ability to learn, grow, and succeed. 

Broken promises feed the feeling of failure. We feel weak. Negative self-talk creates even more self-misery. 

Cruelty isn’t the cure. Strength is restored through the promises we keep. There is power in setting our priorities and keeping our promises to ourselves.

Priorities are promises to ourselves. 

The strength we gain from keeping a promise to ourselves is exactly what we need to begin New Chapters and set New Boundaries. Stop the shoulds:

Social media posts are a suggestion, NOT a should.

Stop comparing yourself to other people or comparing yourself to where you think you should be. Reaching for the stars will become self-defeating if you know the stars are unattainable.

No one has the ability to do it all. Be willing to start small.

Small, slow changes aren’t sexy. They don’t sell books. They don’t attract attention, and they don’t make you famous. They do create lasting change.

When you are ready to change, start by making your promises smaller until you find a promise you can keep. 

I told myself I would , and then I did it! 

Self-doubt and struggles with self-worth vanish in the face of contrary evidence of our self-success. The gap between knowing and doing is eliminated by the promises we keep.

How many times have you made promises to yourself that you DO keep? 

Our self-worth grows the more we keep our promises to ourselves. 

Let’s keep our promises to ourselves. There is power in setting our priorities and keeping our promises.