My Word Is My Bond

I will never forget sitting in that seminar room one weekend in 2011 when the speaker said to the room "Your WORD is Your BOND".

At first I didn't understand the message he was trying to convey to the room but the more he spoke I realised, that my word was not my bond.  

I would often make commitments to myself or even others only, I wouldn't always follow through with them and deliver on what I said I would.  Sometimes it looked like a new exercise routine, a healthier way of eating, a self care practice I wanted to incorporate or achieving certain goals that I said was important and I was striving for.  

Over time, I was no longer present to my word and what it meant to me, and likely neither did others.

TRUST

When someone says something and doesn't deliver, at first you may not think much of it if you don't know them well or they haven't done that to you before.  However, when it occurs time and time again, you start to lose trust and belief in what they are saying to you.

Except what is worse, is when that someone is you and the things you tell yourself.

We all know we are often our harshest critic so when you continue to not honour your commitments to yourself and others, you start to lack trust and belief, your self worth and self image diminish over time leaving you a smaller version of yourself in time.

Here's the thing, the loss of trust and belief doesn't happen overnight but it does happen over time.

THE SMALL STUFF

We are great at minimising the impact on ourselves and we think by saying "sorry" to others or sharing our reasons / excuses will make it all better.  But it doesn't.

Making out that a commitment didn't mean anything or wasn't that important is just another way of making you feel better in the moment about yourself.

Remember, its the small stuff that leads to the big stuff.  If you cannot honour the smaller commitments in life and what you say you will do, then you will not be able to honour the larger ones.

START by working on being your word with the smaller commitments you make and over time notice how that translates to other areas of your life.

accountability

You may have a love / hate relationship with accountability.  

When you are asked the question "have you done what you said you would do" and you haven't, it can make you crawl back in your chair and yet at the same time without someone asking the question you may never get it done.  Welcome to the world of coaching and accountability.

So if you know yourself as someone who is not their word, get the support of an accountability buddy, a coach or a mentor who will guide and keep you on track till you have more power around your word.

It takes courage to hold yourself accountable especially when no one else will or no one else knows.  That's where true integrity lies.

Consistency

It's no surprise that if you want to see a change in any area of your life, you need to be consistent.  Being your word once is no guarantee that you'll continue to always be your word.

When I started swimming in the ocean everyday it was spring and the weather wasn't always sunny.  But I noticed that over time before we were in summer that I had a tan.  Gradually it had developed every day without me even being aware.

The same goes for being your word and being consistent with it.  It takes small actions everyday where you honour what you say to yourself and others for you to regain trust and belief in yourself, have greater self worth and an improved self image.

It won't be easy at times, but if you be persistent and get back on the horse when you fall off you won't even recognise yourself anymore.

Wishing you luck on this journey to knowing yourself as someone who follows through with what they say they will do!