Do Your Really Trust Yourself?
7 Top Tips for Keeping Commitments to Yourself
Trust is an essential component in any healthy and meaningful relationship.
There is a bond of trust between animals and their humans.
Young children trust their parents to look out for them and to keep them safe.
We trust spouses, family and friends to have our best interests at heart.
The betrayal of trust is one of the most heartbreaking things we ever experience.
Why Keeping Commitments to Ourselves is So Crucial
Being an honorable person who is trustworthy is something most of us value as a personal attribute of our character. Even as we strive to be a person others can trust, do we strive to be a person we ourselves can trust?
When we feel overwhelmed by too many commitments the natural reaction is to focus on our commitments to others. We are honorable people and it is important that those that we care about know they can trust us. That matters to us.
The problem when we do so, is that all too often we focus on those commitments to the extent that we push our commitments to ourselves onto the back burner. In the process of doing that we are saying “You don’t matter.” and “You can’t trust yourself”. Can you think of two more destructive messages to send to yourself?
So, how do you change that dynamic so keeping commitments to yourself becomes more natural and more comfortable? I asked some of my clients and followers that question and will share with you the top 7 tips I received below.
Tip #1 for Keeping Commitments to Yourself.
Robin Fischer said “I keep commitments to everyone else why not myself?”
I love this because it directly counteracts that message of “You don’t matter”. You need to be reasonable in the commitments that you make to yourselves and to others, and then value the ones you make to yourself just as you value the ones you make to others.
Tip #2 for Keeping Commitments to Yourself
Jan Bayer McDonald said “It’s the vision I have of my future self that keeps me committed.”
The vision we have of our future selves reflects our best selves. There is no way to be our best selves when we unable able to trust ourselves. Trusting ourselves facilitates the process of turning that vision into reality because we are consistently doing what we need to do to make it happen.
Tip # 3 for Keeping Commitments to Ourselves
Carson Nugent said “Writing them on the mirror everyday.”
This is a perfect tip for top of mind awareness. How often are you in front of the mirror to wash your hands or brush your teeth. These simple actions provide a perfect opportunity to remind ourselves of our commitments to ourselves and to recommit to doing it right now…yes that means today.
Just 3 Simple Tips So Far …What Else Do You Need to Change to Improve Your Ability to Trust Yourself?
Tip #4 for keeping Commitments to Ourselves
Dee Mago said “Schedule it and respect it as you respect it when you book time with clients.”
This cuts to the very heart of self respect. Does the fact that a client is paying for our time mean that we should respect them more than we respect ourselves? The very fact that they are paying us says they respect us and our knowledge. Our power to help them stems from our self confidence in the value of what we offer.
Tip #5 for Keeping Commitments to Ourselves
PC Larsen said “Small written goals, and checking their progress each night works for me.”
I love this because it is all about personal accountability. Accountability buddies are great but at the end of the day it is being accountable to ourselves that has the power to move the needle forward.
As I tell my clients in The Power to Choose, in the final analysis it is all about the choices we make on a daily, hourly and sometimes a minute by minute basis. Now for the final two tips.
Tip #6 for Keeping Commitments to Ourselves
Daria Ates said “To have a clear deep soul aligned why. Not just a shallow one. Deep soul aligned.”
This is key. Only when we have absolute clarity about our why and it resonates with us down to our very soul will it have the power to propel action. Obstacles will happen. They are a part of life. The soul aligned why is what gives us the power to persist and move beyond that obstacle.
Tip #7 for Keeping Commitments to Ourselves
Patti Peltomaa Arbon said “Non- negotiable.”
That cuts to the bottom line. No excuses. No rationalizations. No procrastination. Just get it done now.
If You Are Truly Ready to Step Up in Keeping Commitments to Yourself Then the Next Step is to Take Action!
Step #1 Absolute Clarity
It is essential to know what matters to you at the core of your being. These tips have the greatest value when you use them to move forward towards something that really matters to you. Depending on your current level of clarity use The 7 Pillars of a Happy & Successful Life to confirm or achieve it.
Step #2 Create Your Unique Definition of Success
Use what you have learned in STEP 1 and weave it together to create your unique definition of success. When you do this, and your commitments to yourself point in that direction these 7 tips are momentum building steps to turn goals into reality.
Bonus Tip
Trusting yourself is all about keeping commitments to yourself. Making clear and focused commitments is where you start. Being accountable for keeping those commitments in a timely manner becomes the magic bullet. Joy, growth, accomplishment and seeing dreams turn into reality is the payoff. So start now….today before your head hits the pillow tonight.
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