Make A Promise
Tell Your Friends About Your Early Habits
To make a promise of waking up early can be a very useful method. Just tell a close friend about your plans and what you’re trying to accomplish and you'll soon experience the psychology following your promise...
However, be aware, it's not like whatever you promise will just automatically happen. No, you need to have some character! You need to be strong enough to live up what you say - to walk the talk.
"Promises are like crying babies in a theater, they should be carried out at once."
- Norman Vincent Peale
Many of us just say things that we wish to do in hope that we somehow will be driven towards it. Well, unfortunately it doesn't really work that way. But if you deep inside really believe in what you say when you make a promise to someone, then your chances for success are greatly improved.
I mean, we all now the great feeling of keeping a promise, especially if people had doubt that we could make it =) Your confidence level will go up, your feeling of really knowing yourself will be strengthened and even the sense of life direction might be improved.
It's really rewarding to actually act in alignment with your plans and thoughts. This is a way to truly learn how to trust your own commitments. But to make it a bit easier in the beginning, it's also smart to use a friend as a way to leverage that decision. That way, if you break your promise, you will not only have to face your own sense of failure, but also the feelings of your friend. For many of us it's even worse to let someone else down, or to lose face, then it is to just let ourselves down.
Avoid Breaking Your Promise
If you have a pattern of always breaking your promises, even to your friends, then it's really time to dig a bit deeper. Here are the main potential reasons that I've found:
- You're not strong enough to say No
Being "forced" to do or change something is not a great motivator. If you actually don't want it, but someone else thinks it's a great idea, then unfortunately it's very unlikely that you'll keep your promise. The motivation is simply not present.
- You want it, but you don't believe in it
To make it happen, the first step is to believe that it can be done. If you lack this part, then you will never succeed even how much you try. For example, a high jumper that doesn't believe she can make the new height doesn't stand a chance to make it. The mindset needs to change before the promise can be kept.
- You lack any consequences if you fail
Same as we need a carrot to follow, but it's also very helpful to have a stick behind us. For example, I once heard about two females looking to lose some weight. They decided together that if they weren't to reach their end-of-the-year goal, then they would have to eat... wait for it... a whole can of cat food! Now that's a consequence you don't want to face.
- You fear success
Just as many of us can have fear of failure, it's actually quite common to fear success as well. If you're not used to keeping a promise or acting with integrity, then it can be pretty scary to suddenly see yourself in a new light.
Make Sure You Keep It
So back to promising a close friends, and ourselves, that we will wake up early and easy from now on. Here are my own best tips on how to make sure you will live up what you say:
- Believe it
You wanna feel that you're actually going through with this. And you wanna feel strong inside that you can make it.
- Picture it
Create a mental picture of how it will look, how you'll feel, what you'll hear, what you'll see when you have reached your goal - e.g. 21 days straight of early rising.
- Track it
Avoid the "out of sight, out of mind"-syndrome by taking daily notes of your progress and make it all visible at home.
- Reward it
When you make progress, celebrate!
- Enjoy it
You’re fulfilling one of your goals right now, that's awesome! So make the process fun by incorporating other elements you enjoy, e.g. great music, dancing, exercising, etc.
- Consequence it
What will happen if you fail or give up? Come up with something tough, or perhaps let your friend decide =)
To make a promise to a friend is a great step to really improve your emotional integrity. Use the power of commitment to learn how to wake up early. It's gonna work, I promise :-)
Early Riser > How To Wake Up > Make A Promise
Thanks for reading! By Matthew M. McEwan
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