I’ve been wondering about the negative fallout of unfulfilled commitments. Like I recently committed to myself to go to the gym at least every other day. Then three days in a row I meant to go, but I didn’t. That third day I was so restless. I opted to stay home because I had a lot of work to do. Yet I didn’t work. I couldn’t focus. I felt anxious. Off my game. It was a frustrating and fruitless afternoon.

Was that because I didn’t follow through on my commitment to go to the gym? Because I didn’t do what I said I would do? Were my mind and body so offended that they wouldn’t work with me to do anything else? I think so.

I’ve heard it said that something like that happens. I’ve always figured if it’s a commitment to myself and doesn’t affect anyone else, then it doesn’t matter if I do it or not. Well, that’s not true. It does matter. When we so easily make commitments to do one thing or another and then don’t follow through, we chip away our confidence, our belief in ourselves. We may not be conscious of the effect or have the words to articulate it, but we build a case to not believe we are capable, not believe that we can and will accomplish what we desire.

I’m going to be on the watch for this for a while to see if there is a correlation. I want to see if this is indeed a pattern. This is a really good time for that since I’ve been thinking to establish some commitments – some New Year resolutions for 2024. Now I am aware more than ever to not make decisions lightly, because if I set a resolution and then don’t follow through with action, I’m training myself to repeat that behavior time and time again. I’m teaching myself that I cannot be trusted. Rather, I want to have integrity. I want my mind and body to know that my word is to be trusted. If I say I will do something, I do it.

It is important to keep my commitments, even – especially – those I make to myself and no one else knows a thing about them. I’ll continue this thought as we move on through the end of the year. I’ll be a little more careful about making promises.

I invite you to join me on this exploration. Let me know what you find. I hope we’ll all experience the joy of accomplishing what we set out to do, this holiday season and every day ahead.