How do you feel when you're not able to fulfill what you've promised?

Philippines
November 18, 2011 9:37pm CST
I make personal promises to myself and most of the time, when I voice it out, I'm having difficulty fulfilling it. What I do now is that I keep it to myself and challenge myself to fulfill my personal promises. I guess I have problem with commitment. Whenever a friend or somebody made a promise to me, and when they broke it, I tend to stray away from that friend. I can't commit for fear that it will be broken. As a result, I don't trust easily. However, if it is to yourself, I mean making a promise to yourself, how then will you feel when you, yourself have broken a promise? For me, I feel bad and I see my self useless or insufficient. How about you? Do you get frustrated of yourself or do you have strong confidence of yourself?
2 people like this
14 responses
• Philippines
19 Nov 11
I feel bad & disappointed for myself,because I know I could have than better... But their are just things that you wanted to make a try that's why you promised to do it, and then unfortunately you failed simply because not all things in this world are in our control... All we have to do is make another try again until we succeed.Blaming one self for the failure will never help instead always stay optimistic at all ;;
1 person likes this
• Philippines
19 Nov 11
Hi dannahjade. I too feel disappointed when I am not able to meet my targets. But I am lucky enough because I have an optimistic bone as well. I just have to push myself in doing the things that needs to be done. Sometimes, I feel lazy and that I know, I should overcome. Thanks for commenting.
@Rosa26 (2618)
• United States
19 Nov 11
Is known a phrase that says "what you proclam you will do you won't do it" why? i think it is because a lot bad vibration of people that don't want you do what you say because it means a triumph and most of the time the others don't feel good when see that the others could reach the goals that they couldn't,because of this I don't like to share a lot about plans.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
19 Nov 11
It is sad that many don't want to find their fellow be successful in life. That feeling is envy and it is not a good one. For me I like reading about successful people and I try to see if I can do the same or duplicate their success. Maybe it is good not to tell people your plans. At least, they will not expect much from you or that you will not send a message that you failed. Thanks for commenting.
1 person likes this
@Nigildas (169)
• India
19 Nov 11
Hey buddy this is a serious issue, first of all one should not get frustrated with himself for any reason as it may reduce your confidence and make u feel uncomfortable of yourself. So before making a promise think twice, and its really important to make realistic promise so that u can fulfill your promise. And u cannot transform anything overnight so everything should be changed gradually so make promises very carefully. Hope u take this seriously buddy. all the best
• Philippines
21 Nov 11
I don't easily losses confidence. I make promises or set goals for myself so that I can keep on growing and experience development from it. If I stop setting goals for myself, I would end up not achieving anything. Don't you worry about me failing on my promises to myself. I don't usually make promises that I can't keep. As you've said, it is a serious issue and I would not want having so much issues in my life. I do sometimes feel frustrated when I fail to meet my goals. My reaction though about it is that I challenge myself much more. Thanks for your concern and for sharing your opinion. Have a nice day.
@Lore2009 (7378)
• United States
19 Nov 11
I don't have confidence in myself. But like you I had high expectations of others as well. I think we all change, every minute and we are growing everyday. So, I've learned that it's pretty impossible to keep promises. I still do feel disappointment in myself when I break a promise, but I'm learning to see it as a lesson to learn myself. I will try to conclude (after beating myself up) that, Ok, it was just not the time for me and I can do it again when I really want to.
• Philippines
21 Nov 11
Many of our friends here advises that we take it easy on ourselves. On my end, let me suggest that learn not to be stressed by it. Being cool about the things that we need to achieve, it will help us think much clearly and meet our self expectations. Have a nice day and thank you for sharing.
@megamatt (14291)
• United States
22 Nov 11
I rarely make any promises that I don't intend to keep all of the time. There are just going to be a lot of times where people want my word that I'm going to do something. However, I'm not quite sure that I am going to commit. I could, but I might not really be able to assist a person, so I don't like to full commit to a promise. There was one time where I was forced to break a promise, due to a series of circumstances and even then, it was not without a fight. And I really felt back. The person forgave me, but things were a bit awkward for a little amount of time. There are just sometimes where promises are made and it is really a bad situation when we are unable to keep them. Still I try not to make any promises that I cannot keep.
• Philippines
26 Nov 11
Hi megamatt. We get life's lessons from our experiences. It appears that you learned well from it. Keep it up and for sure you'll win more friends. Keeping a promise entails commitment and there are times that it is really hard to keep it. Thus, I avoid making promises. But when I am confident that I can achieve or do my promise, I see to it that I finish it. Thanks for sharing.
• United States
19 Nov 11
I feel like a failure if it was a big promise and if it was a petty promise, I feel the same because it does not matter much to me. Typically, I don't promise much but when I do, I only intend to withstand the promise and I will not (by my own will) break that promise. If I make a petty promise then I don't intend to keep it, but these are rare and I feel sleazy if I make a promise likeso. If there's something I absolutely need to tell someone else, or it may jeopardize a friendship or trust, I must break the promise to share information with some else. That's just how it is some times.
• Philippines
21 Nov 11
Hi dellessimon45. I completely agree with you. Most of the respondents here have the same idea about keeping promises and breaking it. I now think of the children that are growing up nowadays. Many of the young teenagers doesn't know the value of keeping a promise. I just hope and pray that they would learn how to do it at a much earlier part of their life. This is why I think that we should educate our children on the values of keeping promises and other good traits. Best regards to you.
19 Nov 11
hi, am, me i feel bad too if I didn't fulfill my promises, but as a person were not perfect to fill it but not all promises are made to be broken right. it depend upon the person. who would make that promises. am lastly we should not make a promise when we are happy nor a decision when we are angry cause this are the fence that lead not to be fulfill by the person who declared it.
• Philippines
21 Nov 11
I believe that people who makes promises and keep it are real matured people or individuals. Those who would constantly make promises and just break them are not responsible enough. Thus, we can say that they are not matured enough. Understanding its impact would deter us from not making promises. Because by breaking promises, we losses the trust of other people. Thanks for commenting.
@ebuscat (5935)
• Philippines
19 Nov 11
For me it make you prostrated totally be good so that things would be best.
• Philippines
19 Nov 11
Hello snowhybiscuis, When i promise something to myself and can't fulfill it for some reason or another, i usually analyze first the reasons why before i judge myself. Sometimes, there are much more important considerations that you have to take before making true to your promises. Of course i feel bad when i can't hold true to my promise. But I don't like to be too critical of myself lest i get so disappointed that I would not be able to accomplish anything at all. Anyway, i don't usually promise anything that i cannot be sure to do so I rarely have that kind of dilemma. When something like that crops up though, there must be a very good reason for it.
• Philippines
21 Nov 11
Hi deriellevc73. You seem to have a very firm personality. I want to achieve that and learn how not to loose focus. A friend of mine told me that when I get problems, the solution is always to get back to basics. Simply trying to understand yourself would help us greatly when we bump into something solid. This would at least explain that we may not be able to fulfill it now but it is for some reasons. Thanks for commenting and have a nice day!!!
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
19 Nov 11
I don't make promises to myself, but I do set goals. Some I achieve and some I don't. The hardest to achieve are the things I know I ought to do but don't want to do, but do want to have done. The toughest of these goals to achieve constantly nags at my consciousness, but I still can't make myself make a serious start on it because it's such an immense task.
• Philippines
19 Nov 11
That is very true. An incomplete goal is something that really nags you and keeps your mind unsettled. There are moments that it haunts you but somehow it is really very difficult to start with something that requires immense task. I guess the key to it is to start with the first step and take it one step at a time. Have a great day!!!
@enelym001 (8322)
• Philippines
19 Nov 11
I feel the same way with friends when they broke the promise they have made. For some time I will feel really bad but I try to forget about those things and just thinks that maybe there are a good reason as to why they did not fulfill such promise. Now about my personal promises to myself, I try really hard not to let anyone know what I want for myself although it's really hard sometimes. Because what I notice was when I tell someone it usually didn't happen. I try to give myself a chance and reason too why I have to break my promise.
• Philippines
21 Nov 11
You seem to be a very good and forgiving friend. You will not find it hard to get forgiveness from friends as well if you maintain that attitude. Because of it, you also find it easy to forgive yourself. That is indeed a very admirable trait. Keep it up and thanks for sharing.
@almond24 (1248)
• Hungary
19 Nov 11
Breaking promises and being unable to say NO goes together sometimes. For me it took a long time to learn to say no when I'm unsure that I can keep a promise. Even if it's not my fault if I can't keep a promise it feels terrible, so I learnt that I don't make a promise unless I'm sure that I can keep it.
• Philippines
21 Nov 11
You are very correct. I was hard for me too, to say No to other people's request. But sometimes you really have to put your feet down and say No. Saying yes and not being able to keep it would result to frustration not only from your side but also with the person whom you've bestowed a promise.
• Philippines
19 Nov 11
I am proud to say that I have a palabra de honor. I am a lady of my word and as much as possible, I keep my promises. In the first place, when I am not sure if I could fulfill that promise, I would play it safe and tell them that I would TRY but I can't promise. But if there are scenarios that I can't fulfill them, then I would feel bad and it would be against my ego since I've always thought of myself as someone who values honor. ^_^
• Philippines
21 Nov 11
Do you have high expectations of yourself as well? I do. That's one reason why I sometimes feel frustrated. I tend to set higher goals and promises myself that I will achieve it. But whenever I fail, I really feel bad. I guess I have to learn how to loosen up. Thanks for commenting.
@Momenly (30)
• Lebanon
19 Nov 11
I try my best not to accept a promise if I'm not sure I'll keep it. As for commitment with my inner self, I do fail miserably many times, but I try to continue no matter what. Of course I accomplish things every now and then, but I feel like failure dominates my personality.
• Philippines
21 Nov 11
Hi Momenly. That is a good attitude. I try to do the same. Whenever I fall or fail to accomplish what I set myself into, I just stand up again and move on. I don't stop form trying. I know that someday, I'll be able to reach what I set as goal for myself. I wish you luck and hope that you will not think lowly of yourself. Think positive and do not think that you are a failure. There's a winner in each one of us.