I bet you’re not reliable. Offended? Read on.
For the 20th year, Nurses have been voted the most trusted profession in the annual Gallup poll of Honesty and Ethics. These years have been consecutive with the exception of 2001 when firemen topped the list in the wake of the 9/11 attacks (which of course they deserve). Not only has nursing consistently topped this poll since it was added to the list in 1999, in 2020 nursing topped the list with a full 12% spread.
In my mind, a big part of honesty and ethical behavior is being reliable. I like to think I’m a reliable person. I do what I say I am going to do. I show up to work early. I keep my commitments. I get things done on time. You can totally call me for a ride to the ER at 10pm and know that I will stay all night with you. I don’t sign up for things that I can’t commit to. I’m not going to make 24, gluten free, dairy free, nut free, red dye free cupcakes and have them ready to go for a class party. I’m definitely a “no” for that.
Sounds reliable, right? I identify as a reliable person and I have respect for other reliable people. I love being reliable. I bet you do too.
So imagine my surprise when I realized there was one glaring omission in my self-proclaimed regimen of reliability…
doing what I say I am going to do when the only person it affects is me.
Please tell me you can relate. There are millions of posts and articles on how to take care of yourself or follow through with your resolutions and yet, for many of us, we have not yet seemed to master the art of making a plan and sticking to it when the plan is solely personal.
The worst part is, we make up stories about how we aren’t capable, or how we have too many obligations. We tell ourselves we aren’t strong enough, or good enough, or determined enough. Other things are more important, we’re too tired.
We aren’t flawed, we have just unconsciously stepped away from one of our core values, reliability.
Now before you pile negativity on yourself, take a minute to review this through a lens of curiosity, a lens of data collection, not an “I’m not good enough” lens. One simple mental shift can change all of this for you (if you value reliability).
Remember who you are.
You are reliable.
You do what you say you are going to do (for other people), whether you feel like it or not.
Now take this skill that you have mastered in so many other parts of your life and apply it to those that affect your health, wellness, and happiness. It isn’t hard if you simply identify it as simply “being reliable.” After all, that’s WHO you are.
It’s a one-size-fits-all “WHY” for whatever commitment you have made to yourself. Let me give you some examples.
When it comes time to exercise and you don’t want to, you remind yourself you are doing it because you are a reliable person. Not just to get in shape or be strong. In the moment, those won’t be compelling enough. Sometimes it is hard to believe that the workout today is actually going to have any affect on your fitness level. But the reward of being the person you want to be, the person who is 100% reliable, is instantaneous.
When you need to start your blog post on a Tuesday instead of a Friday and you don’t feel like it (theoretically of course), you remind yourself that you take pride in being reliable. You remind yourself you are in the basic training of reliability. So you do it anyway.
I’m becoming the person who follows through 100% of the time, not just 100% of the time that it affects other people. There are days that I struggle with it, but working on being reliable for myself, BECAUSE I WANT TO, is so much more fulfilling and effective than trying to manipulate myself into getting things done.
Doing what you say you are going to do can change your life, for good. You are already 90% there.
Imagine what satisfaction that last 10% will bring.
Step into your full potential and hold on for the ride!
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