Let’s get back to you (Intro)

We’ve all made a promise in our lifetime. In fact, that was a popular thing to do while growing up when we wanted someone to believe what we were saying. We would also promise our friends that we would keep a secret or that we would do something for them. Remember pinky promises? We were serious about those pinky promises lol. If someone went back on their word, we were genuinely hurt. We would lose faith in that person. It would bring the realization that we could no longer trust what that person says. In these instances, we begin forming defense mechanisms based on these experiences.That would be one of life’s defining moments that mold our trust in people. Not to mention what lessons we acquired from our family structure.

A promise is your bond to another that says you will follow through with your word. Promises are serious. As we journey into adulthood, a promise becomes more significant in our lives. We can make a promise to God when we dedicate ourselves and our lives to him. We make business promises. The promise ring tradition that signifies that we promise commitment to the person we give it to. We then date to ultimately get married. Marriage is a promise to love for better or for worse. We know promises oh so well. On the other hand,How many of you were told about keeping promises to yourself? I sure wasn’t. It blew my mind once I reflected on my life and realized how many times I broke a promise to myself or blatantly lied to myself. I always focused on the promises I made to other people or how other people didn’t follow through with their promises to me. It didn’t dawn on me how much damage I was doing to myself. That is my why and why I am writing to you today. It is so important to stay true to yourself. If you don’t, you will begin to lose yourself and not know why. I want to take a trip with you. Truth be told, I need to rededicate my promise to myself. Let’s learn how important it is to follow through with the promises to yourself. We will walk through how to make healthy promises with realistic expectations. We will discuss how honoring promises you make to yourself is a form of self care. We will come up with a strategy to make and keep goals and discuss why making goals are so important to the well being of your life. I also want to discuss the consequences to not keeping the promises you make to yourself. I think this is the best time to start the journey. Life as we know it will never be the same. We are about to show up for ourselves. There is nothing to lose here. All gains all glory. Let’s go after a more fulfilling, successful, and satisfying life!

What’s your Truth?

We’re just gonna jump in. We will self reflect right now. Get you something to write with, if you want, and let’s dive in. I want you to write down one goal you want to accomplish. I then want you to write down how long you’ve had this goal. Then write down when you will absolutely make an effort to achieve this goal. This is only the start. I had you do this exercise to give you an idea of how simple it can be to accomplish a goal. It will also show how long you have waited on that promise to yourself. Fulfilling promises to yourself could be that simple, if we actually just do it. If we stick to the deadline that’ll be one promise to ourselves kept. But, it is not that simple sometimes and we will talk about why a little later. When you were in grade school, the teacher gave you an assignment that was due at a certain time. This insured that the assignment was completed in a timely fashion. For most, the teacher and your parent/parents/guardian would hold you accountable of turning it in. Life isn’t that simple anymore. Sometimes, as an adult, we don’t have that same accountability or drive when it comes to ourselves. How many times have you promised to do something in the form of a goal and procrastinated on it? How long have you had that fitness goal? How many years ago it was, that you were supposed to complete that personal or home project? When were you supposed to start that business? How long have you needed that car? When will you actually complete those classes you wanted to take? When will you revamp your wardrobe? When will you read the bible? When will you cultivate your relationship with God? These are just some examples of things we intend to do and we put off or not do at all. Is it safe to say that we lie to ourselves? Those times when we say, “I will do it tomorrow or next week or next year” are our frequent broken promises to ourselves. Now is the time to do some self reflection. Look back at your habits. Where we can see our error is where healing begins. You are your truth and you live your truth.

The Consequences

I have a question. If someone lied to you continuously, would you continue to trust them? If someone broke their promise to you, would you trust that they’ll keep another one? I’m not sure what your answer is, but my answer is no. Well, it is no different for you with the relationship with yourself. There are consequences to letting yourself down on a regular basis. It may be obvious or subliminal ramifications. Not following through can give you a negative outlook on life. You may find yourself saying I can’t do instead of I can. Believe it or not, victories boost your outlook on life and overall self esteem. Think about the feeling a football player may have when he wins a big game. I can imagine that it feels good to work hard and follow through with what you said you would do. Just like the victories have positive consequences, the losses have negative consequences. Another consequence of not keeping your promises to yourself is mistrust. You may subliminally not trust yourself to accomplish things. You may begin to have more faith in others abilities all because you have let yourself down so much. Example: You tried to lose weight for years. You tried different programs and routines. You didn’t reach your goal. Truth be told, you promised to be good to yourself and make healthier choices, but reneged on your promise. The problem is not losing the weight, it is your following through on your promise. It was your lack of discipline concerning the routine. This causes mistrust in yourself. Now, you feel defeated in the area of your health and fitness. Someone can tell you that you can do it, but until you follow through it won’t get done. Until you discipline yourself and put you first, you will miss the mark. Another consequence of not following through is depression. Yes, depression will creep in when you keep putting off your dreams and goals and what you intend to do in life. You will be unsatisfied. It will always be a urn to do more. Then comes the depressed feelings. Especially if you do not have a plan on how to reach your promise. Reflect for a second on how it feels when someone promised you something and just didn’t fulfill the promise. What if they kept putting it off. You will begin to feel like they’re playing with you. Wow! There is no difference when dealing with ourselves. I have one more I would like to highlight. Example: You were in a bad relationship and you promised yourself you would not go back. You did it anyway. You didn’t keep your promise to yourself and you didn’t stand for up for yourself. Although you knew better. You directly placed yourself back in the fire. This will cause you to not trust your own judgement. It will cause you to feel weak and inadequate. The effects are not good for you and can cause you to feel that way in other areas of your life. This may even cause you to question your own decision making. The consequences are insurmountable. This is an example of putting a person or things before your well being. Now that you get the picture of how this will affect your life, we can work on how to avoid these things happening in the future.

Just like the negative consequences are relevant, there is a blessing in your follow through. The consequences don’t have to always be negative. Your follow through will ensure that you accomplish your goals and always keep your promises.

Be Real!

The first step is to be real with yourself. Yes, just be real. We can look at social media and see how someone has accomplished a huge goal in such a short time frame. Truth is, on social media, we do not have the opportunity to see the process. There is always a process. How long or short that process is, depends on the person. Which doesn’t make one person better than the other as long as the goal is met. You have to look at your life and make a plan based off of that. Sometimes reaching our goals can start with as little as a 10 minute commitment. You may see someone that works out for one hour and thirty minutes, but if you are a beginner that is not realistic. Start small. I know we hear that a lot, but that makes your promise to yourself possible. Out of 24 hrs, 10 minutes is nothing. Also, this ensures that your commitment is reachable. Another highlight about our fitness goals is that you may not like to work out. There are some other things you can do to get active. If you like to dance, dance at home or take a dance class. If you like to walk go on a nature walk. If you don’t like nature, but like to shop, go to the mall and walk for an hour. Simple alternatives. If you have a financial goal, start small. I know we see people saving hundreds per month, but if you can only save $20 that’s fine. Save what you can. That $20 is better than nothing. Now, let’s do a “Be Real” exercise. Let’s write down what we want to accomplish in all aspects of life. After you write that down, evaluate your life and write some realistic ways you will accomplish those goals.

Example:

Lose 30 pounds (Realistic goal: Workout 10 minutes in the morning at 7 a.m. (set alarm) and 10 minutes in the evening at 7 p.m. (set alarm); drink 4 (24 ounce bottles) of water; portion my meals; no fast food 5 days out of the week)

Save $500 Emergency funds (Save $20/ week for 6 months) (When I cut down fast food, I can save more)

Finish my Degree (Find a school with flexible scheduling where I can take one class at a time)

Set your expectations for success. You got this! Your strategy and follow through will help you every time.

What Will It Take?

In order for you to completely transform your life and be all that you want to be, a part of you has to die. That part that wants to procrastinate. The part that walks in fear. The part of you that lacks discipline. The part of you that likes to overeat. The part of you that make impulsive or bad decisions. Who know that in order to live, we must allow the bad things in us to die? Are you ready?

What it will take:

Discipline: the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience. So, how do you discipline yourself? By sticking to the promises you have made to yourself. If you do not, then take a luxury away.

Hard work: a great deal of effort or endurance. No, it won’t be easy. You have to work hard, but the benefits are so great! Can you imagine how you will feel after you work hard for what you want?

Dedication: the quality of being dedicated or committed to a task or purpose. Oh yeah, that commitment is a must! If you are not dedicated then you’ll keep falling. Commit to bettering your life, today! Remember, no more broken promises to yourself.

Accountability: the fact or condition of being accountable; responsibility. So, lets be real, it is hard to hold yourself accountable because you can not do it and no one is there to put that fire behind you again. It is always good to have an accountability partner. If you don’t have anyone you can call on, then ask the holy spirit to bring you one. You can also join a class or gym for that accountability in fitness. Join some of these Facebook social groups for financial, fitness, life, spiritual, etc. accountability.

Love: Self-love means having a high regard for your own well-being and happiness. Self-love means taking care of your own needs and not sacrificing your well-being to please others. Figuring out what self-love looks like for you as an individual is an important part of your mental health. Self love is so important in the process of keeping your promises to your self and bettering overall self. You have to practice self= love sometimes. It doesn’t just come easy to some of us. But, we will change that now. Once you start working on you and winning. Your awareness of self will increase and the love you have for yourself will also.

Realism: the attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it accordingly. Have you ever encountered someone that seems like they live in a fantasy world? Yep, me too lol. Being real with yourself is vital. Knowing where you are and planning for where you want to be takes being real.

It’s Your Time to Shine!

2022 is looking bright! It’s your time to shine and no one can stop you! If you take this enlightenment and apply it to your life, you will conquer life! Don’t go another day making promises without intention to fulfill them again. You are your vehicle. If everyone around you is happy and well kept and you’re not, what is the point? In order for the diamond to shine, it has to be well maintained. I challenge you to rededicate the promises you’ve made to yourself with realistic expectations. Don’t wait another year. Don’t put yourself last another time. A satisfied woman is a woman that keeps promises to herself. Let’s go 2022! Blessings to all that took the time to read this. I know God has a big plan for your life and here is the start.

Contact: Inbox Dreeka @ Precious Jewelz Mentoring Facebook page if you want to set up a Free Strategy Session for 2022. Like, Follow, and share our page and c

A Prayer for you

Heavenly Father thank you! Thank you for my life, health, and strength that you have blessed me with. Thank you for telling me that I am the head and not the tail. That I am above and not beneath. I repent for not taking full care of my body and health, not following through with the dreams you have given me, and not loving myself properly at all times. Thank you for your grace and mercy! As I venture into life, I ask that you walk with me and talk with me. Help me be the best version of myself. I bind the spirit of fear, procrastination, laziness, low self esteem out of my life right now in the name of Jesus. Jesus came so that I may have life, abundant life, and I don’t take that for granted. I desire to walk in excellence and fulfill the promise you have for me. Thank you Lord, for enclosing me in my right mind. Thank you for enlightening me. I will take this moment and be the best version of myself. I love you God! In Jesus name, amen.