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

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

I feel absolutely no shame in breaking promises to myself. They're totally worthless.

I do hate breaking promises to other people... so I try to never ever make them. q:3

[rowyn]

The ones where I just tell myself I'll do something seem to be completely worthless. Telling someone else that I'll do it, even if it's something I'm doing for myself (like posting that I'm going to exercise regularly) is enforcable, though.

The annoying part is that I need to engage the guilt mechanism for not doing stuff or I won't *do* the stuff. Grah.