179. How a Promise Can Make Your ONE Thing Stick | Alex Sheen

Have you ever scheduled time for your most important work?

Chances are, all of us has done this at least once. But do you regularly time block and then protect that time like the air you breathe, defending it against every distraction that comes up? For most of us, the answer is no – but why is that?

In this episode, we suggest that this is because we’re not great at keeping the promises we make to ourselves or to others – and we believe that if you can get a little more intentional about the promises you make when you’re planning your time, and the commitments you make to others, then everything else will become easier or unnecessary. Our guest, Alex Sheen, has taken this idea of a promise and turned it into a movement and a book called Because I Said I Would, which is helping people all over the world make promises that stick.

We recorded this conversation as part of our monthly ONE Thing webinar series. Every month, we feature an incredible author so that you can learn directly from them and ask questions. If you want to sign up for our next FREE monthly webinar, head over to the1thing.com/webinars.

In this episode, you will learn...

• [7:30] How the “market conditions” of promises have changed with technology
• [12:30] The anatomy of a promise
• [18:00] How you can gracefully say no – and still help people move towards their goals
• [28:30] How you can leverage time blocking to prioritize what you do and don’t promise to do

The ONE Thing to Implement From This Episode:

What’s the ONE thing that you’re not doing that would make saying no easier or unnecessary?

Maybe you need to get clear on why you’re saying yes to what you’re saying yes to and no to what you’re saying no to. If you don’t have clarity on your bigger purpose, your bigger Why, it can be difficult to stick to your guns and say no when it matters.

Or maybe you need a go-to no sentence like Alex’s: “It would be easy for me to say yes right now, but I respect you too much to keep a promise I can’t keep.”

How much time do you think you’ll need to block to come up with that sentence? And how many times do you think you’ll have to practice it, even just one time a day, before it just sounds natural? Sounds like a good candidate for a 66-Day Challenge: http://the1thing.com/66daychallenge.

Links & Tools From This Episode

• Learn more at https://becauseisaidiwould.com/
• Read: Because I Said I Would
• Get your promise cards: https://becauseisaidiwould.com/requestcards/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BecauseISaidIWould/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/bcisaidiwould
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becauseisaidiwould/

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