Showing Up For Yourself

You would never tolerate broken promises from a friend – so why do you put up with so many from yourself?

Stop with the all talk, no action vibe. It’s time to step up to you.

Show up for yourself. Earn some credibility with yourself. Forgive yourself for breaking promises because when you do, you love yourself less. You let yourself down. You’re like a bad friend – to you. It’s time to keep those promises to yourself.

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

through the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice —

through the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

“Mend my life!”

each voice cried.

Mary Oliver, The Journey

The Journey is a poem of transformation. It speaks of the moment when you dare. When you dare to listen to your own truth and set sail into a new life.

Self-respect starts with doing what you say you’re going to do for yourself first.

Think about how many times a day we disappoint ourselves.

We ditch ourselves when we don’t make our health a priority. When we put other people’s problems before our own. When we neglect ourselves. When we meet our needs last.

Turn it around.

When you make a promise to yourself, take it seriously.

Don’t let it go at the first sign of temptation or resistance.

Always keep the promises that you make with yourself first.

If you’d like to start keeping promises to yourself, start today. I started out making one promise per day and sticking to it about a month ago. Some key lessons I’ve learned are:

1. Make promises you can keep – be realistic in your daily commitment
2. Make it your number 1 priority – don’t let anything get in the way
3. Be specific – make your promise clear – I will go for a 30 minute run today
4. Write down your promise – keep it somewhere visible at home and at work
5. Chart your success – keep track of your daily success on a star chart somewhere you see regularly
6. Reward success – how will you celebrate keeping a week of promises?