As a writer and editor for Southwest’s onboard magazine Spirit, I get to meet some very interesting people—including the man who graces this month’s cover. I think that Alex Sheen will inspire you to keep your promises. After he lost his father to cancer in September 2012, Sheen channeled his grief into a nonprofit/global social movement called Because I Said I Would, which champions the importance of honoring commitments. I had the pleasure of spending a few days in Cleveland, Ohio, shadowing him for the November edition of Spirit. In between marshaling volunteers at his office and foraging at a nearby nature preserve for firewood (get the full story on Sheen’s promise to build a fire using primitive techniques here), Sheen shared some wisdom about the nature of commitments.
One thing he stressed was the difference between promises and goals, and he used the objective of getting 1 million hits on YouTube as an example. “That’s not a promise,” Sheen said. “I can’t guarantee that’s going to happen.” Instead, he applies the word “promise” only to the things a person does have control over. In the case of scoring YouTube fame, that may include resolutions to post a video every week for a year or to spend X number of hours watching video-editing tutorials. Concrete commitments like these can propel us toward even the loftiest of goals.
I left Cleveland with a small stack of promise cards, a simple tool that Sheen devised to help people keep track of their commitments. These plain white, standard-size business cards are printed with the words “because I said I would” in black. You write down a promise, give the card to someone else, then get it back after you’ve followed through as a reminder that you are a person of your word. (Because I Said I Would will send you 10 cards free of charge. Submit your request here.) I’ve only used two so far—there’s something about the act of committing a promise to paper that makes me think long and hard before filling out a card. But I’d been meaning to incorporate more physical activity into my life, so my first card was a promise to myself to do a stretching routine every day for an entire week. I ended up missing a day and berating myself for coming up short. But rather than give up, I filled out another card, committing to doing the routine for six days the next week. Lesson learned: It’s good to start with small promises that you’re sure to stick with, then work your way up.
My coworker Melanie shared with me a promise that she and her husband, Sean, made recently. They haven’t spent Thanksgiving with her in-laws in a while, so this year Melanie and Sean told his family that they would fly back to New Orleans for the holiday. They even booked their flight early.
What about you? We’d love to hear what kind of promises you’ve made recently, especially those you may be planning to make to your loved ones this holiday season. Let us know in the comments.
I left Cleveland with a small stack of promise cards, a simple tool that Sheen devised to help people keep track of their commitments. These plain white, standard-size business cards are printed with the words “because I said I would” in black. You write down a promise, give the card to someone else, then get it back after you’ve followed through as a reminder that you are a person of your word. (Because I Said I Would will send you 10 cards free of charge. Submit your request here.) I’ve only used two so far—there’s something about the act of committing a promise to paper that makes me think long and hard before filling out a card. But I’d been meaning to incorporate more physical activity into my life, so my first card was a promise to myself to do a stretching routine every day for an entire week. I ended up missing a day and berating myself for coming up short. But rather than give up, I filled out another card, committing to doing the routine for six days the next week. Lesson learned: It’s good to start with small promises that you’re sure to stick with, then work your way up.
My coworker Melanie shared with me a promise that she and her husband, Sean, made recently. They haven’t spent Thanksgiving with her in-laws in a while, so this year Melanie and Sean told his family that they would fly back to New Orleans for the holiday. They even booked their flight early.
What about you? We’d love to hear what kind of promises you’ve made recently, especially those you may be planning to make to your loved ones this holiday season. Let us know in the comments.