Stop Making Commitments When You Can’t Live Up to Them!

Ive had this problem recently, but it's just the nature of some people, it's the world we live in. It would be a strange world if everybody you dealt with in business and life was as nice as your mum.

I agree with this. It is very painful when someone commit something to you and unexpectedly keeps you hanging and when you do a follow ups they keep promises. It would be really bad if the one who did this are those who are close to you.

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Amen. I recently had a programmer take two weeks to respond to a simple email about a custom coding project that is outside my expertise. Two weeks just to respond? How long can I assume it will take you if I were to hire you? If I wanted to drag this on for 3 months, I'd just learn to do it myself!

End rant.

Thank you. summarized nicely what I’ve been coming to grips with myself. This is very helpful

I believe that the problem has deep roots in the culture. Unfortunately, the people of my country are we know for being
"the men of tomorrow " , we do not make the things, we delayed them. The culture of "in a little" is very harmful, but the worse thing is that is one of the most common practices!

Glad that many above agreed and I do agree with you Joshua too. PS am entrepreneur too

It really pisses me off when I keep my part of the agreement but the other party didn't. If it was just a one time blow, I wouldn't stress over it that much but if they build up- those little things that are thought to be forgotten, I drop them from ny circle

Not fulfilling commitments is a big mistake. It ruins everything, good relationships and your reputation too. To avoid this, I think it's better to say an outright no when you think you can't fulfill it rather than a yes when you know you can't do it. Be honest.

Thanks, you’ve summarized nicely what I’ve been coming to grips with myself. This is very helpful.

I agree with this completely. And I must add, it's not just the major committments, even the small ones. Missing a promised deadline by a day, constantly moving dates, everything adds up to ruin creditibility.

I also live by this saying. And have never made a commitment to any of my customer that i couldn't deliver.

I agree 100%. I am fed up with people, both on a professional and a personal level, who make commitments and do not honor them.

I totally agree - breaking a straight forward promise such as "I'll call tomorrow" says a lot about what you can expect in the future from that person. Another thing that confuses me is why people say "we should meet up" when they don't really mean it, they're just making conversation?

I can totally relate to your situation Joshua. And I'm pretty angry when people don't live up to their commitments! I see daily in my work, I work with a lot of teenagers and they seem to be the worst in not living up to their commitments. It's just a shame and tiresome for the other person.

I agree, there is nothing more disappointing than building up anticipation and preparing for a deal or a meeting, just to see that the other side chose to let you down without a warning. In big part it's about being realistic while closing partnerships. It's easy to get carried away when something sounds promising but if you're in doubt that you or your partner will be able to fulfill promises - rather back off immediately and save yourself the frustration you'd otherwise experience.