What is the value in fulfilling one’s word?

Nowadays it seems common to think that words don’t really matter much… That words are “gone with the wind”, and so who cares, right? The reason words matter lies beyond their fragility… What one says matters because one’s unconscious mind is always listening. Yes that same one who controls the other 90% of our brain/reality.

Phrases like “as good as one’s word” has long persisted in our collective knowledge as a reminder of the connection between words and reality. Of those phrases “As good as one’s word” resonates as I’ve been hearing often the interest people have in controlling one’s mind as well as one’s emotions (actions), but not so much on controlling one’s words. I ask myself, why haven’t we come up with phrases like “as good as one’s actions” Or “as good as one’s ideas”.

Is one better than the others? Which one should I use? Should I use all?

As good as one’s ideas

I can start to think about something at anytime yes, but I cannot avoid to think about something if I see it, hear it, smell it… For instance, if I tell you just now: do not think about a pink elephant! You just did. You don’t entirely control your mind. You can’t go back and change what you thought about.

Am I driving when it comes to ideas? Not entirely, not all the time. The mind seems to operate mostly on a reactive motion, like an antena, that is automatically triggered by stimuli I perceive.

As good as one’s words

I can start speaking about any topic, yes, and can also avoid talking about a topic I don’t want to discuss anymore, even if asked to do so. For instance, when I decide to keep silent if asked to speak about something that I don’t feel talking about. Also, I can choose which words to use depending on who I’m talking to.

Seems that I am more in control of the words I use than the ideas I think of. I have more of a handle on what words I use and it’s not necessarily a reactive action as I can chose to speak or not.

As good as one’s emotions (actions)

I can decide to start feeling a certain way, for example I can boost my confidence in myself a few seconds before going up the Karaoke stage. I can not avoid feeling a certain way I don’t want to, for example being shamed due to a someone criticizing my singing.

Feelings seem to have more of a reactive motion similar to ideas, where I can choose what to feel but can automatically feel some way as a response to an external stimulus.

Of these options it is with words that I am in control both in being proactive and reactive. I mean, if someone else can trigger an image of that pink elephant in my mind, then I do not own/control my mind entirely, but someone could hardly provoke that I speak out “pink elefant”. In the case of the mind I can not be as good as my thoughts, because not all of my thoughts are mine! Same with feelings, not all of my feelings are mine. But my words are entirely mine to choose.

Back to the original question: Why does it matter to fulfill one’s word?

Ok, so if I go hiking today because I saw a video about it and can’t stop thinking of hiking… Then by completing the hike I fulfilled in part what someone else convinced me of. If I go hiking because someone said something about my extra holiday weight and I felt a bit ashamed and obligated to burn it… I also fulfilled in part what someone else convinced me of.

If I say I will go hiking, even if I was convinced about it. Then I made the hike my own because I could have kept shut and say nothing but in saying it I chose my own words to commit to the hike. By the way, this doesn’t mean thoughts and feelings are not necessary. I need to picture myself reaching the top and I need to feel excited about it. Still, it is only through the fulfillment of my word that I synchronize my unconscious mind who controls 90% of my reality and my conscious mind controlling 10% of it. If I don’t fulfill on my own word and someone knows it well I’ve lost credibility with them… That is exactly what happens with one’s unconscious mind, get it? And I will have to make up for it.

We have been gifted with an unconscious literal mind that governs all automatic responses of ourselves. It is a gift because we don’t have to manually operate the way we breath, drive, eat.. It is this guy’s job to keep literal note of everything, to continuously keep learning. So if I didn’t fulfill my words, my unconscious will know and will AUTOMATICALLY allow missing on promises! That’s a tough one to swallow. This is one of the reasons sometimes we feel we’ve sabotaged ourselves. Somewhere along the way we stopped fulfilling our own words and our unconscious mind took that as a guide for any situation in life.

Great news! The unconscious mind is always learning, always. So next time you delivery on what you said, a change will be noted. And the next time it will reinforce that new direction, until it becomes an automatic response.

This is my first post, the number 0 of this sequence, my reference post. With it I start a new story, all driven by a time-proven phrase:

Be as good as one’s own words!