How to harness the power of a promise

What does making a promise mean to you? Do you promise to others (and yourself) that you will definitely do, give, or arrange something, or declare that something will happen? Walk the dog, lose that extra weight, return grandma's phone call. In today's fast-paced and turbulent world, does making a promise still hold any weight? According to Jay Boolkin, Making a promise is, in many ways, similar declaring an intention to stick to a commitment or achieve a goal. In each case we are essentially making a pledge to carry out some future action. Breaking promises, defaulting on commitments, or giving up on goals can have painful consequences – strained relationships, eroded trust, deep feelings of regret and disappointment.

While most people would agree that honoring our word is always the right thing to do, in practice it's not always so easy. Life gets busy and we often get sidetracked by distractions, lack motivation or simply slip back into routine. So what are some steps we can take to increase our promise-keeping ratio? How can we eliminate promise procrastination?

There is no shortage of opinions as to how we can best do the things we intend to do and live more productively day-to-day. A quick Google search reveals that the most in-trend 'Hack' is only a click a way. Yet for every semi-helpful tip you stumble upon, you're bound to get nine other incredibly stupid pieces of advice.