They are certainly easy to make and often times easy to keep. It feels good to share with someone our expressed interest in helping them and even feels more thrilling to actually follow through on what we promise. 

Then why are so many promises broken?

I see this every day. A quick email sent that says “I’ll get that to you.” Or a comment of “I’ll be in touch,” only to be followed by… ghosting. 

I don’t know if broken promises are part of our ever-changing world, but I don’t like it. I’d rather hear “I’ll think about it and get back to you,” than “I’ll do it” and no go.

So what about you and me? Are we guilty of broken promises? Sure we are. But we can make great strides to rectify this; especially since broken promises have consequences, like damaging your career reputation, breaching trusts and hurting relationships.

Think about the last few promises that you made. Were they made to yourself, or a family member, a colleague, a supervisor or someone else who could feel slighted by this breach? What can you do to rectify it? What can you do to avoid empty promises?

I think we can all make a promise to ourselves and others: To respect the promise of a promise!

Kim Monaghan, PCC, RYT, CPBS is the owner of KBM Coaching & Consulting LLC, a boutique Human Resources Consulting and Career Coaching Firm serving a national clientele.