The promises you make

“I will send that over to you.”

Which, of course, they don’t.

Because it’s easy to make a promise in the moment but a lot harder to keep it later.

It’s also a bummer for the other person because they might have thought you mean what you say.

Of course, you didn’t lie. You meant to keep it. And yet, you didn’t.

Maybe you just forgot about it. Or an urgent call came your way. Maybe it was even impossible to keep the promise.

The thing is: the person you made the promise probably to doesn’t care. And I think she shouldn’t care. She cares about whether you keep your promises.

But there’s an easy fix: Make less promises.

Make less promises so you can keep the ones you do make.

In other words: only make promises that you are absolutely certain you can keep.

Don’t try to be “nice” by making a promise in the moment.

Be nice by keeping the promises you do make.