Masterful Mindsets ~ Be Impeccable with Your Word
“Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.” ~Don Miguel Ruiz
Question:
Do you believe that sticking to your promises and keeping your word are forms of integrity? Do you practice being honest and truthful? Do you refrain from saying things that are not helpful, positive or loving? Are you impeccable with your word?
Action Challenge:
I’d be interested to know how you answered the questions above. My guess is, you probably want to say yes to all of them BUT, if you were truly being honest with yourself, would that really be your answer? Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying anything bad or judging your character. Odds are, you could answer yes to them when thinking about how you interact with others. But what about how you talk to yourself? This is where it becomes so easy to let go of our integrity, our compassion and our love. How sad really! What we say to ourselves is often so much more critical than what we say to anyone else. I always like to ask the question… “If you talked to your friends like you talk to yourself, would you still have any friends?”
Being impeccable with your word doesn’t just mean when you are speaking to others. It includes how you speak to yourself. Think about it, how would your life be different if you applied this agreement to how you speak to yourself?
If you spoke with compassion and love for yourself, instead of being critical, only saying positive and productive things… how would that change you and your beliefs about yourself and your capabilities? If you were more honest with yourself, how would that transform your life? Would you stop being a victim of your circumstances? The circumstances, I might add, that you created for yourself. You know, those little lies you tell yourself. Like “I’m busy, I don’t have time for _____.” when what you may really mean is “I’m scared I’ll fail so I’ll keep myself busy and not make time for _____”. (You fill in the blank – love, a new business venture, writing a book, etc.)
What about the times you “promised” yourself that you’d do something and then didn’t follow through on your commitment? Every time you set a goal for yourself and don’t take the actions you commit to, you are not keeping your promise to yourself. Maybe it’s something little like, “I’m going to start going to bed earlier.” Or “I’m going to eat healthy today.” But then those little broken promises get bigger and bigger. How would your life transform if you stuck to the promises you make to yourself?
Heck, think about it – Last week your action challenge was to pay attention to when you weren’t following the agreements. Did you realize that not following the agreements you set for yourself is actually an example of not being impeccable with your word? Keeping your word to yourself is perhaps the most important part if this agreement and yet, the most overlooked.
My challenge to you is to be impeccable with your word! Only say something if you believe it is truth. Only speak words that are positive, loving and productive. Only commit or promise something if you are truly willing to follow through. Do this when speaking to everyone you interact with and most importantly, do it when speaking to yourself.
***Haven’t gotten the book yet but said you always wanted to read The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz? Time to commit and follow through on your word. Get it Here and Get Started!
***I want to hear from you… Share your thoughts about this week’s topic below!