Self-commitment: A promise to follow through on your accountability, or a promise to perform your intended actions.
Hello friend!
How are you?
This week I started with a bit of an anxious mind. I felt like a failure because I didn’t record any new videos for my YouTube channel in the past 10 days. I didn’t follow through with my challenge to make one video a day and so I started to feel like an imposter.
I kept asking myself: how can I inspire anyone to take action if I can’t stick to my own commitments???
As a typical perfectionist, I was being hard on myself and the longer I wasn’t putting myself in front of the camera the more my self-destructive thoughts were haunting me.
You’re only a human
At this point, I would like to tell you I got my sh*t together and just pressed record, but something else happened.
I shared my feelings with a friend and what she said really comforted me: “Magda you’re only a human! You were going through some personal stuff and a lot was going on. Take a new day and don’t worry about what you didn’t do. Work on what you can do today.”
And it hit the nail.
I realised that with my tendency to be focusing on the lack, I easily forget what is happening around me.
Why is self-commitment so difficult?
“When we try to change something about ourselves, our minds often struggle to adapt to the new changes that we are trying to make in our lives. Our brains work really hard to keep us safe. We’re still alive in our current situation, so our brain will naturally gravitate to what it knows.”
~ Erick Cloward, Stoic CoffeeBreak Podcast
This explains how important it is to acknowledge that growing (in business and as a person) requires time to emotionally adjust to changes. Especially when you have to face resistance from your ego that likes staying small and comfortable.
How can we overcome the resistance to change?
I found Marcus Aurelius’ quote quite inspiring:
“You have to assemble your life yourself — action by action.“
Be nice to yourself
Your ability to keep going is what moulds you into a disciplined and strong person. And I want to be that person. Strong, committed, self-disciplined and most importantly the one who keeps promises to herself. Like to a good friend. Because… I wouldn’t want to let my friend down, why am I keep doing this to myself then?
I am not giving up on my YouTube channel and creating content. I may have experienced temporary resistance to change from my brain but if I stay focused on my mission, vision and purpose, everything will fall back into place and I will keep going with my video challenge.
I hope this inspired you to always be your own best friend and if you need someone to remind you of this from time to time and hold you accountable, let’s meet for a chat – I offer coaching sessions for creative entrepreneurs who sometimes get lost in their own minds. I’m still much better at giving advice than listening to it.
Meanwhile, let’s treat ourselves as someone who we deeply care about.
