Commitment
We have made a promise. We have agreed to do some-thing, for some-body or it could be a commitment we made to ourselves. When we make commitments we become bound by an obligation, duty or responsibility. Call it what you want, but it’s our word. We have to decide how we act on our word.
Most of us have made a commitment to do something, send something or followup on something and found ourselves slow to respond or in some cases even fail to respond. Here are some ways to make sure that you are making good on your commitments.
- Don’t take them lightly. Only say what you will do and stop there. You would rather under-commit and over-deliver.
- Be judicious with your time and energy, if you really don’t intend to do something or truly don’t see the value in the follow through, then show some self-constraint and don’t make the commitment.
- Write it down. Putting it on paper and keeping front and center will lessen the chance that you can’t recall the details of what you were committed to followup on.
- Be clear. Don’t leave things to chance, be clear on who has the action and what the expectation are. This will avoid the open ended – let’s meet, where neither party is making it happen, so the invitation hangs open until you meet again.
YOUR CHALLENGE: Take notice of the promises you make and the promises others make to you, then prioritize and schedule the follow through that you have committed to.
If you would like to learn more about how this might apply to your business, let’s talk:
