Why you should never break your promises (2024)

Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash

You may not want to do something you have promised someone. This is a very common position to be in.

It is in your selfish best interest to honor your commitments, though.

If you’re going to be able to trust yourself fully, you need to keep your word to other people. Otherwise, they will know that you aren’t to be trusted.

Even worse, how can you trust yourself if you don’t keep your word?

Your brain keeps track of the track record you have of whether you follow through on what you know you are supposed to do or not. This is reflected externally as self-confidence.

If you tell yourself that you will do something multiple times a day and fail to follow through, you are essentially lying to yourself. The result is that you know at a subconscious level that you aren’t to be trusted. That will manifest in your behavior. This includes what happens when nobody else is watching.

Do you follow through on your commitments all the time, sometimes or when it is convenient? How often you do that has a big influence on your integrity. People can sense this.

You might have made a promise to someone else that it is very inconvenient to honor. You should follow through on it regardless. Not because you are a super nice person necessarily, but for your own selfish best interest.

If you act in your own self-interest but take the long-term into account, you will start to be useful to other people. Why? Because we tend to get what we deserve in life. Is there a better way to deserve what you want than to help other people achieve their goals?

If you want to befriend high-quality people, you need to be a high-quality person. Most productive people manage to see through someone’s bullsh*t and tell if they are telling the truth or not. If you have failed to live up to your standards and break promises to yourself, this will be reflected externally.

The result is that the things you could have gotten for yourself or the best possible relationships and so on will be out of reach.

Follow through on your commitments regardless of whether it is convenient or not. If you have promised yourself to go to the gym at 5 pm tomorrow, do it even though you are tired. You will thank yourself later.

The other people in your life will also be grateful as well. You will become a better ally, a more positive person, and an industrious person better equipped to handle life and help those around you.