The power of peer pressure should never be understated.
Why do you dress the way you do (and not some other outlandish way)?
Why do your projects and homework assignments always seem to get completed in time… even if you tactfully delay them until the very last minute?
How come minorities do worse on exams when they are reminded of their race or gender?
It’s all about expectations.
You try to self-verify by presenting a consistent “you” to other people, which in turns gives them an expectation of how you typically behave and act.
You then feed this cycle by presenting yourself consistently day to day, only varying when evaluated over long periods of time.
It goes on and on… it’s a vicious cycle (as one “Fat Bastard” would say).
But… you can use it to your advantage.
How To Keep Your Word… Every Time.
When you need to get something done, simply tell the world.
Update your Facebook, send a tweet, text everyone on your phone, give your friends a call, tell your family… you will put pressure on yourself to act consistently with your intentions.
When you don’t tell anyone, you have no one to live up to except yourself. And the self is a lot more willing to change its notions about what “it” is if nobody knows about those plans.
What I do is keep a hand-written “To Do” list. I usually don’t tell people about what I need to do that day, but at least you will physical and visual evidence of what needs to be done (and your ideas are not just floating around in your head).
If I write it down, I need to get it done. If it’s really important, I’ll also tell people about it.
That’s the only reason I’m writing this post.
Quote Rich Francesco on Facebook about my status update to write more often: “do it. woman.”
Done.
