Failure

[rowyn]

Why does "committing to do something and then not doing it" feel so much more like failing than "not committing to do something and then still not doing it"? Either way, the thing doesn't get done.

I don't think this is wholly irrational. Sometimes it's because other people are counting on me because I made a commitment. Sometimes the thing I've promised to do, someone else would have done if I hadn't made the commitment. Sometimes it's not, but I've still raised hopes and then disappointed them.

I guess that's true even if the only hopes I've raised are my own.

Comments

[telnar.livejournal.com]

If this scenario bothers you enough, you might be better off with some intermediate level of commitment which is strong enough to mildly motivate you, but not so strong that anyone can reasonably rely on it. People are more willing to accept statements like "I think that there's about an 80% chance that I will do this" than you might think.

[rowyn]

*giggles* That has been your historical solution, hasn't it? So, do you know how often you do the things you've said there's an 80% chance you'll do? :)

[telnar.livejournal.com]

Close enough to 80% that, having not kept detailed statistics, I can convince myself that 80% would probably be within 2 sigma had I kept statistics.

Of course, that could be a comment on either my estimating skill or my level of self deception :)