Successful people don’t commit to do more than they know they can do. They manage the events of their day with an eye towards always doing what they say they will do.
They don’t over-promise and under-deliver. In fact, just the opposite is true; they either do exactly what they say they will or they do just a bit more.
It is no coincidence that the most successful people also make the best use of their time. They are incessant planners and plan for everything, they even have a plan to manage the unplanned. They leave an opening in their calendar from time to time because their experience has taught them to expect the unexpected.
Less experienced, and less successful people tend to think that filling every opening in their calendar will somehow push them towards success. What it actually pushes most people towards is failure and disappointment when they realize they will not accomplish everything they had hoped. Less successful people focus so much energy on being busy that the lose sight of how to be productive.
What the most successful people will tell you is that hope is not a plan. They don’t schedule things into their day “hoping” to get them done. They schedule things into their day that their plan tells them they can accomplish.
When you over-commit you set yourself up to disappoint, yourself for sure and maybe someone else as well. Never say you will and then hope you’ll find a way. Instead find a way and then commit with certainty.
One trait almost all successful people have in common is that once they commit then they are totally committed. There is no hoping required because they know they will complete the task, on time and as promised.
If you commit to doing more than you can you often end up doing less than you should. That happens when you’re so over-committed that you don’t know where to begin. Successful people do more, often much more because they seldom waste time worrying how “they will get it all done.”
Here’s the bottom line, less successful people promise, usually with the very best of intentions and often fall short. The most successful people commit and they don’t need the best of intentions because they have a plan.
If success is really what you want then never commit to something that you aren’t truly committed to do.
It is a common mistake that many new managers make. The idea to agree to every plan filling your day. The reality is, just as you said, time will get away from you. It is also important that people realize that if they accepted a meeting invite – but have something else going on it is OK to decline the meeting. You need to manage your time based on priorities which should be based on the bigger picture. I would also advise sending a note with the decline explaining why you cannot be there and that you would like to catch up later. I would also caution against sand bagging. Do not commit way low and then deliver amplitudes higher. It is good to over deliver but be realistic with what you commit to giving some wiggle room. Committing too low makes your plans obvious. The goal is to deliver what you promise not to make yourself look good.
Thanks for your comment, I agree 100%. We must still push ourselves to do more, nobody likes a sandbagger and pretty much everyone knows if you are one from a mile away.
Great article, its a reminder for me, to stay true to my commitments, and to follow up with everything I commit.
Thanks for sharing!
Best regards
Maria
You’re welcome, I’m glad it was a reminder for you, it was really intended as a reminder for ME 🙂 I’m glad it could help others too!
Well Said! Very True!
Thanks Tracy!