{"id":42529,"date":"2021-07-19T13:32:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-19T17:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=42529"},"modified":"2021-07-27T08:14:47","modified_gmt":"2021-07-27T12:14:47","slug":"follow-through-on-your-commitments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/follow-through-on-your-commitments\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Follow Through on Commitments: Simple Skills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Do you tend to follow through on commitments or quit halfway? How do you feel when you fail to stick it through? What do you think is stopping you from seeing things to completion? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Making agreements and delivering on them is an important skill for successful people. When you fail to follow through, you risk losing the trust and respect of those around you. Subconsciously or consciously, you may start to doubt your capabilities, which can erode your self-worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This article will discuss how to follow through on commitments and ensure you deliver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Delivering on Agreements Is About Integrity<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When you deliver on an agreement, you demonstrate that you have the integrity to see commitments through to completion. Yet we sometimes hit roadblocks and fail to deliver. There are three common <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/causes-of-failure\/\">reasons for failure<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>You\u2019re pressed for time. <\/strong>You may agree to do something and not be able to deliver because you\u2019re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/always-busy\/\">too busy<\/a> or lose track of what you agreed to do amid your other commitments or responsibilities.<\/li><li><strong>You don\u2019t want to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/grab-attention\/\">draw attention<\/a> to yourself. <\/strong>Though you could\u2019ve negotiated an agreement that fit better with what you\u2019re capable of delivering, it\u2019s easier to agree to the original terms than to draw attention to yourself through adjustments.<\/li><li><strong>You don\u2019t like confrontation.<\/strong> It\u2019s easier to agree to do something than say you can\u2019t do it and upset someone.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How to Follow Through on Your Commitments<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are two tips to follow through on your commitments:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Only commit to things you can deliver on.<\/strong> By being selective about your commitments, you ensure you don\u2019t take on too many things or things outside of your capabilities. To do this, give yourself time to decide whether you\u2019re going to do something, and be honest with yourself about whether you can deliver in the time frame specified. Canfield suggests writing \u201cno\u201d on each page of his calendar to remind himself that it\u2019s acceptable to say no if taking on something new might deprive him of things he already enjoys.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Record your commitments. <\/strong>Use paper or digital calendars, reminders, or other tools to keep track of your timeline so that you don\u2019t forget.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>If you discover you\u2019re not going to be able to keep your agreement, let the other person know as soon as possible so you can negotiate a new one. For example, if your car won\u2019t start, immediately make arrangements to reschedule the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Motivate Yourself to Fulfill Your Commitments: Martin Rutte\u2019s Story<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes it\u2019s helpful to create a significant consequence for not meeting a commitment to motivating you to fulfill it. For example, Martin Rutte wanted to learn to do a high dive, but he\u2019d been reluctant to practice because he was afraid. To move past his fear and achieve his goal, he created a big <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-incentive-meaning-and-definition-economics\/\">incentive<\/a>: If he didn\u2019t learn how to do a high dive by a certain date and time, he\u2019d donate $1,000 to the Ku Klux Klan. Because Rutte was Jewish, the incentive to avoid making the donation motivated him to reach his goal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you tend to follow through on commitments or quit halfway? How do you feel when you fail to stick it through? What do you think is stopping you from seeing things to completion? Making agreements and delivering on them is an important skill for successful people. When you fail to follow through, you risk losing the trust and respect of those around you. Subconsciously or consciously, you may start to doubt your capabilities, which can erode your self-worth. This article will discuss how to follow through on commitments and ensure you deliver.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":21198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,42,43],"tags":[423],"class_list":["post-42529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ethics","category-motivation","category-self-improvement","tag-the-success-principles","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Follow Through on Commitments: Simple Skills - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Delivering on your commitments is an important life skill. 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