The Meaning of a Promise

A promise is, above all, a responsibility to yourself. When I say to myself, “I promise,” I am giving my word—something that must be fulfilled. That’s how it should be. Unfortunately, more often than not, we don’t keep our promises. We say these words easily, but fail to follow through, finding countless excuses or simply forgetting about them.

Why Keeping Promises Matters

In reality, making and keeping promises is the key to responsibility, loyalty, and reliability. It is also an essential condition for believing in yourself. If we repeatedly tell ourselves we’ll do something and then don’t follow through, it becomes harder and harder to trust ourselves. The same goes for how others perceive us. This is how chaos and a lack of control can start to take over our lives.

Developing Responsibility

Responsibility is something you need to develop day by day; it doesn’t appear on its own. The first step is to carefully and honestly review what you plan to do. Don’t take on more than you can actually handle—but don’t settle for less, either. Assess the scope of what needs to be done, your abilities, and the time frame in which you plan to accomplish it.

Considering Others in Your Plans

An important factor to keep in mind: if your plan requires the involvement of other people, you need to account for this when making your plan. This introduces additional variables, and not everything will depend solely on you. Therefore, you should add extra options for how things might unfold, as well as additional time. Only after you’ve weighed everything, double-checked your reasons and whether you really need to do it, should you make the decision and give yourself your word: “I’ll do this, let’s go!” And then, you must follow through.

Start Small and Build Confidence

Don’t set yourself galactic-scale tasks right away. It’s better to start training yourself to keep promises with smaller tasks, then move on to bigger ones. Each time you accomplish your own goals, you’ll start to believe in yourself—because if you can do this, you can do more. This is how you develop the most important quality of an adult: responsibility for your own life and self-belief based on real results.

Unlocking Opportunities

When you build this foundation, your life will be filled with opportunities and a promising outlook for the future!