Plan a promise and work in that direction.

Along time ago, a speech therapist worked hard to invent a device that made sound waves visible so that deaf people could ‘hear’. He couldn’t create a machine that would do what he wanted, but his efforts led to the invention of the telephone. The man, Alexander Graham Bell, was driven by a sense of responsibility. He wanted to do something to help the deaf as two important women in his life — his mother and his wife — were deaf.

If you believe you can make a difference and have faith in yourself, you will commit more effort into your actions. Let your work speak for itself. Believe that you can make a difference, make a promise to yourself and live up to it and hold yourself responsible for your commitment and efforts.

Once you start believing that you can make a difference, you have to get your focus clear. Set yourself a target and your commitment will give you the power to overcome any doubts you may have. Make a promise to yourself and to others. Plan your course of action. When you give voice to your commitment, you feel more responsible.

When you honour your promises consistently, you win other’s trust and loyalty. Start with small steps to turn your promises into action. This will set you on the right direction.

When you commit yourself to your promises, by example,you let your work speak for itself. When you give your best to live up to your promises, it makes you a purposeful action-taker.

The movie Chak de India, starring Shah Rukh Khan in the role of the coach of a women’s hockey team, is about living up to the promises you make to yourself and others. The film has powerful dialogues that can motivate you through examples. One such dialogue is between a cynical hockey official and Khan. When the official comments that the women’s team was too weak to even beat a high school team from Europe, Khan replies,“That is exactly why I want to coach them.”

Another powerful dialogue by Khan was,“It’s not a question of strength, it’s the intent. To be successful, it’s not your strength you have, but the intention that matters.” Focus on one cause — believe you can make a difference, and go all out to create it.

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