We all know it: honoring our commitments is an indication for reliability and responsibility; it shows we achieve our goals and that puts us on the route to success.

And gosh, we did put a lot of efforts to keep our promises, didn’t we? I am pretty sure each one of you can remember your heroic behavior to meet deadlines & targets and to keep the promise of a work well done.

It’s not only limited to work though. We are committed to our values, friends, families, communities or agendas and to ourselves too, right?

I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen - Frank Lloyd Wright

Now that being said, I see many people highly committed at work and when it comes to their personal life, well…

Didn’t this ever happen to you?

• That you registered to that Pilates class last quarter and only went twice?
• That you said you’d visit your old friend three months ago and still haven’t bought the train ticket?
• That you’d definitely take that important decision by Thanksgiving and you are still procrastinating?

It’s alright, we all do it sometimes. Nobody’s perfect!

Is it because we can’t say no? Hate to disappoint and hope we’ll lure away? We don’t consider ourselves worthy of a commitment? Maybe it’s easier to commit when an external authority is involved? Is it easier to honour commitments when we say to ourselves “I have to”, “I must” (preferably with a strong low voice to which we look upon)? What’s the value of a commitment, which is honoured through fear of what others would say?

1. Have fun: As great as we feel when we honor a commitment, if we do it with a sense of duty, it is really not fun! Rather do it as the result of our own decision, the expression of our freedom: we don’t have to, we want to. And why do we want to? Because it’s so sexy! The sexier a commitment the more attractive it will be to you. Oh, just in case you wonder, what is sexy is what you tell yourself is sexy…. It’s as simple as this.
2. Create a vision: Knowing where we want to go helps us stick to our personal commitments. For example, if being healthy is important to you then you can remember it takes work now to be in a good health in the future each time your little “oh, let’s skip” voice shows up.
3. Write down your goals: Writing our personal commitments in our agendas in the form of Simple Measurable Achievable Realistic Timely actions is a great way to measure our performance. Then keep track of your KPIs daily, weekly, monthly as you please, but do it! Why not even make a special self-commitment notebook?
4. Make them a habit: For personal commitments which ask for a radical behavioural change, I find it easier to integrate them in our daily lives like brushing our teethes (we don’t question every evening if we are going to brush our teethes, do we?) BUT do it step by step and rather slowly. You won’t become a marathon runner the same day you decide to buy your running shoes!

With the new year just around the corner, we have a month to think of what really matters to us and write down these dear hot commitments we want to make with ourselves. Think about them, let them sink in. I hope these tips help you as they have helped me.

Tell me how they work for you. You may have other tips yourself? Please share!