Do What You Said You Would Do

by Mark on November 12, 2012

Larry Winget, the “Pitbull of Personal Development,” gave one of the best pieces of success advice that I have ever read.

“Do what you said you would do, when you said you would do it, the way you said you would do it.”
– Larry Winget

In other words, always deliver on your promises, and this includes the promises that you make to yourself. If you do this, you will be guaranteed to be a success.

Unfortunately, doing what you said you would do, when you said you would do it, the way you said you would do it can be very challenging, which is why it’s so rare to see someone who does it consistently.

Breaking promises seems to be an epidemic these days. With several people I know, I assume the opposite of what they promise. You know with almost absolute certainty that they will break their promise. It’s insane.

Promise only what you can deliver, and deliver what you promise.

It is much better to underpromise and overdeliver than it is to overpromise and underdeliver. Choose your promises carefully. This is difficult because we naturally fear promising too little.

“Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.”
– Ernest Hemingway

It is especially important to reduce the number and difficulty of your commitments when you are breaking a lot of them. You are not helping matters by promising a lot and delivering little. It’s far better to do what you said you would do, when you said you would do it, the way you said you would do it. Being unreliable makes life much more difficult for everyone else.

Be very specific.

Define the result very clearly, and be specific about the deadline. Without a deadline that you are committed to, Parkinson’s Law will rear its ugly head.

Parkinson’s Law:
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
– Cyril Northcote Parkinson

If you haven’t committed to a deadline to someone else, make up your own deadline and then demand that you meet it. This will make you far more productive.

Are you up for it? Are you ready to do what you said you would do, when you said you would do it, the way you said you would do it?

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