Success Tips Newsletter

June 3, 2008

In this issue: A major key to success

by Eric Albertson

Word count:  838

Time to read: 2-3 minutes or less

Here’s a quick challenge for you

Name this personal attribute: You’ll find it at the core of many a success story, modern or otherwise.

Everybody’s figuring it out

In interviews this year, people as diverse as Sean “Puffy” Combs and Robert Kiyosaki, have named this attribute as the main reason for their long-term success.

It’s a big void when things begin falling apart

When people stop being successful, not doing this is really at the heart of the problem, in many cases.

Nobody is perfect in this way, but that’s ok

In the quest for this attribute, perfection is not required, but the intent to improve is.

What’s the answer?

I’m talking about keeping your word. Nothing, in my opinion, is more powerful than keeping your word, if success in life is what you desire.

So why is it important

Thirty years of research shows that others (that includes people who might buy what you are selling) don’t buy at all, or for long, if they think you don’t or won’t keep your word.

That’s a big deal.

Keeping your word can be tough

If you don’t know the mechanics, keeping your word (which I define as doing what you say you will do, when you say you will do it), in my experience, is very hard to do. Given the frequency with which things change, and the speed with which priorities adjust, it’s sometimes impossible. You can make a promise most sincerely today, but tomorrow, circumstances might prevent you from keeping it. You have to be very careful about making promises. You have to know the mechanics.

Life often won’t let you keep your word

When another person makes a request of you, you have a choice of how

• Decline
• Accept
• Counter
• Promise to promise at a later date

Really being able to keep your word requires deliberation

The mechanics of keeping your word include deliberate thought. Don’t assume you have to say yes to everything, right now. Take the time to consider it, to reach clarity. To know what you’re promising. Consider making another kind of commitment, instead.

Make a promise to promise

Making a promise to promise is just a way of saying, “When I get more information, I’ll make a decision about making a commitment.” You make keeping your word almost impossible when you commit to things without enough information and consideration.

I can’t do it on Wednesday, but I can on Thursday

The king of tactics for keeping your word is the counter: I can’t do what you requested, but I can give you this alternative.

Sometimes going the extra mile doesn’t work, either

It’s a huge surprise to some that doing more than they were asked is not the same as keeping your word. In fact, it’s often perceived to be just as bad as not going the full distance. When the recipe calls for a cup of sugar, tossing in a cup-and-a-half is wasteful — and it doesn’t make for very good cookies, either.

I can’t promise that, but I will commit to this

You can go above and beyond by simply saying, in advance, that you promise to call with an answer by, say, Tuesday, or earlier.

The money shot

The important thing is to come to an agreement on what and when. I call it butt-on-line. Putting your own butt on the line by making a what-by-when commitment is truly the key to your performance. This is what makes the world of business, and other human relationships, go around.

It won’t happen overnight

Getting better at keeping your word probably will happen slowly. Most of us shine a blind eye on the full cost of not keeping our word. That includes the cost to our lives, to our happiness, and to our financial well-being. Because we have those blinders on, we’re sometimes not motivated to make a change. But, it’s time to take those blinders off and do something.

Just start trying to do it

Start looking at when, where, and how you fail to keep your word. Then begin to notice, or at least to speculate, the cost involved. Ask yourself how you feel when others keep — and don’t keep — their word to you.

A future that’s better than the past

If you truly want a future that’s different from the past, keeping your word an ever-growing percentage of the time is likely the most direct route.

It’s one of the few points of control in our lives

It can be very, very scary. We really don’t have much control in this life. The tools I have given you today should help you gain control of one of those things: keeping your word.

It’s one that could matter most to your future.

It’s your choice

It’s a simple decision to make. You  just have to start looking at the cost of not doing it. Maybe the cost is ok by you. Maybe it isn’t. But, once you get a glimpse of the true cost, though, I suspect you will be on your way. The world holds many good things for you if you improve just a little.

To you,

About Succeeding In Business

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