“If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?.” — Dogen
The other day I was on a coaching call with a client and she was telling me about how she was re-reading the book The Four Agreements as she does at the beginning of every new year.
Side note: I'd like to express gratitude for a job that allows me to work with the kind of people who read The Four Agreements as part of their New Year's traditions. I love what I do.
Anywho, for those of you that aren't familiar, The Four Agreements offers a code of conduct (based on ancient Toltec wisdom) to free yourself from limiting beliefs and live with happiness and joy.
The first and the most important of the four agreements is:
Be impeccable with your word.
"Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love."
All pretty solid life advice if you ask me.
This agreement covers the basics like choosing your words wisely, refraining from gossip and speaking to yourself and others with kindness.
It also includes speaking with integrity.
To only say what you mean.
As in not just being impeccable with your word, but with KEEPING your word.
That means that if you say you'll do something, you'll do it.
And if you say you'll be somewhere, you'll be there.
It means keeping your promises.
The ones you make with others AND the ones you make with yourself.
My client and I discussed how powerful it is to actively decide to honor the promises you've made with yourself and how detrimental it is to constantly break them.
The agreements you make to yourself that no one knows about, the ones that no one can call you out on when you don't follow through, are the agreements that will either make or break your success.
👉 When you say you're going to stop drinking after 2 glasses of wine, but then you finish the bottle...
👉 When you say you're going to wake up at 6am to meditate, but then you hit snooze until 8...
👉 When you say you're going to go for a run after work, but then you plop down on the couch instead...
What happens when you don't keep your word to yourself over and over again?
Let's put it in perspective.
If you had a friend who told you every Sunday that they were going to start their diet the next day and then by Friday of that week they are eating pizza and wings, only to repeat the process a few days later...swearing that THIS TIME was the real deal...
Would you still believe them? Or would you eventually tune out?
We all know the story of the boy who cried wolf...
When you continue to break promises to yourself, you whittle away at the belief in your own integrity and at the belief in your ability to change. But,
What would happen in your life if you did the things you said you were going to do, no matter if the only person you've said them to was yourself?
Really think about it.
What would happen if you did EVERYTHING you said you would do?
What if you just did HALF of what you said you would do?
👉 How different would things be for you?
Think of your words as a contract where you are both the drafter and the signatory.
Don't put anything in the contract that is meaningless to you or that you aren't willing to do.
But, if you say you’re going to do something — if you "agree to the contract" — then do it.
It really can be as simple (not to be mistaken with easy) as that.
Be impeccable with KEEPING your word.
Make a ruthless commitment to doing what you say you’re going to do — to following the contract — and watch the magic happen.
👉 Are you ready to keep the promises you make to yourself?
There's still time to register for my Goal Getter Bootcamp.
To sign up or to learn more, go to: GoalGetterBootcamp.com
📢 Enrollment closes this Thursday, Jan 7th at midnight.
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