Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say
Are you the kind of person that makes plans and actually sticks to them or do you bail out at the last minute? It seems as though our avoidance in committing to anything has transcended into several areas of our lives. Why is commitment such a phobia nowadays? It seems we prefer to pencil things in and reply with a “maybe” rather than a definitive “yes” or “no” answer.
Perhaps in a world where so much choice is available to us, we have adopted a mentality where we like to keep our options open- be it with people we date, plans we make, places we work, things we buy, and so on. We are constantly updating and upgrading ourselves. Perhaps the emergence of sites like Facebook and Twitter are part of the root cause for this behaviour. Living for the “present” is a reasonable approach to have for life but why not just “be” in the present instead of sharing it with the world on a minute by minute basis? Sharing certain experiences and opinions is fine but do we all really need to know what you had for breakfast? (upload image via phone here and you know what I mean)
Commitment issues are pretty much expected. I am not going to say I have never backed out of plans in my lifetime but I happen to like plans and I happen to like definitive answers. I respect people who are not afraid to say “no” to me rather than be agreeable and then make excuses or apologies as I am about to head out the door. I think it all comes down to courtesy here and everyone deserves at least that much. If I am ever tempted to cancel plans I think about that principle. If I absolutely must back out, I notify the person with as much notice as possible and try to reschedule if possible. Think about your place of work-I do not know of many companies that would tolerate a report not being handed in on time or not attending a meeting just because you didn’t feel like going. If you can be that courteous to your boss there should not be any reason why you would not extend that courtesy to your friends.
Hold yourself accountable as a person. If you make a goal, stick with it. If you make plans, show up. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Otherwise, everything else is just half-ass and that translates to how you regard others in a half-ass manner. Now who wants that?
