Over the past few weeks my wife and I have been selling some excess items through Craigslist. The good part is that we sold a few of our items and made some extra cash, which is always a good thing.
The bad? We have also encountered people at their flaky, unreliable, and selfish worst.
I can't tell you how many times people simply flaked out on me. These were people who made appointments with me so I arranged my day to make these appointments and then they decided they didn't need to show up or call or anything to let me know they weren't going to make it. (I love standing at Starbucks at 3pm waiting for someone to show! Really, I do!)
Once, Kacy agreed to purchase a large ticket item from someone. They negotiated the price and determined when I would go take a look at it and pick it up. Kacy was very excited about the item and looked forward to buying it!
Imagine Kacy's surprise when she received an email from the seller saying that she sold the item to someone else! Kacy let her know just how upset she was that the seller reneged on the deal and the seller responded that so many people are flaky on Craigslist that she decided to take the first person who could pick up the item, even though we had a previous agreement with her. Of course, the irony here is that the seller herself became one of those flaky Craigslist people because of those other flaky Craigslist people she's dealt with in the past!
As I have studied success, I am convinced that some of the most effective things you can do to be successful are:
Honoring what we say we will do is fast becoming a lost art. Imagine how much you can impact the people around you and help yourself by being one of the few to be true to their words!
How do you help yourself honor your commitments?
Once, Kacy agreed to purchase a large ticket item from someone. They negotiated the price and determined when I would go take a look at it and pick it up. Kacy was very excited about the item and looked forward to buying it!
Imagine Kacy's surprise when she received an email from the seller saying that she sold the item to someone else! Kacy let her know just how upset she was that the seller reneged on the deal and the seller responded that so many people are flaky on Craigslist that she decided to take the first person who could pick up the item, even though we had a previous agreement with her. Of course, the irony here is that the seller herself became one of those flaky Craigslist people because of those other flaky Craigslist people she's dealt with in the past!
As I have studied success, I am convinced that some of the most effective things you can do to be successful are:
- Be accountable Do what you say you will do.
- Be respectful If you cannot honor your commitment, respect the other person enough to let him or her know that you can't make it. And don't wait until the last minute if you don't have to! (Have you had the experience of people RSVP-ing for a party that never showed; which results in a whole lot more food than you needed? Kind of stinks, right?)
- Be honest A lot of times we over commit to things because we don't want to hurt someone else's feelings. But hasn't our life experience taught us that the best thing to do is to be honest in these situations? Then the other person doesn't expect you and you don't have to stress about how to deal with the person...or how to avoid him/her until everything passes!
Honoring what we say we will do is fast becoming a lost art. Imagine how much you can impact the people around you and help yourself by being one of the few to be true to their words!
How do you help yourself honor your commitments?
Keywords: craigslist, success, accountability, honoring commitments, honesty, relationship difference, rommel anacan, respectful, true to word, success, corporate training, motivational speaking, workshops, inspiring success, creating success
