Have You Broken Any Promises Today?
From the moment the alarm clock goes off in the morning, it could mean that you are breaking a promise before you even get out of bed.
“What promise?!” You might be asking. How can you break a promise before the day has started?
Promises can be both big and small. Setting an alarm means that you made an agreement with yourself the night before about getting up at a specific time. If you hit the snooze button, then it means that you are starting the day on a broken promise to yourself.
How Are You Justifying or Rationalizing Breaking Promises?
When the alarm goes off, the default response is for the brain to find rationalizations or justifications for not keeping that promise. You might think about how the kids interrupted your sleep in the middle of the night or why a little more sleep is necessary so you are fresh for the big meeting at work.
Regardless of the rationalization, it’s important to be aware that you are breaking a promise to yourself by not following through with your previous commitment.
Awareness is the first step. When you have awareness about your thought patterns and resulting actions, it puts you back in control over how your daily habits are influencing your results.
Taking Accountability for Promises to Yourself
Most people will agree that they consistently deliver on promises to their friends and family. If you agree to meet a friend at the gym, there is a pretty good chance that you will put on your workout clothes and drive to the gym. If you promise your boss to finish a project by a certain date, then it’s pretty likely that you will put in the hours to complete the project.
But it’s a lot easier to let ourselves down when others aren’t holding us accountable. It might sound hard to frame the snooze button as a broken promise. But if you want to be a person who is growing and achieving goals, then you need to recognize where you are sabotaging yourself.
You know in your heart that you want to build better habits, and this process starts with awareness about how the seemingly small decisions each day add up to bigger results in the future.
So, make a commitment to yourself to keep your first promise of the day: get out of bed when the alarm clock rings. Then, follow through with other personal commitments in your home and career and see how long you can maintain your streak of consistency – and pay attention to how much of a difference it makes in your life.
A Business Coach Can Help
Do you need guidance and accountability? Then reach out to us at Effective Action Consulting to learn about available business coaching. We address mindset to help people reach higher levels of success.