Your Word Is Like Credit

A man’s word is everything. I really pride myself in knowing that when I give someone my word, they know they can trust me. I’ve proven myself time and time again for this to be the case, even in very difficult situations that cost me a lot. But that cost is worth everything for the price of being known to be a man of integrity. Very rarely in my life have I gone back on my word, and when I did, it was for good reason.

That is not to say I haven’t said things about what I want to do to the public and have not done those things, because I certainly have. But the difference is those were never promises to anyone in particular. Indeed, this is a flaw of mine that I have to work on: to move in silence. It’s something I’ve been known for throughout my life. But sharing my ideas with people even when they’re incomplete is a lot different than breaking a commitment. The former is conjecture; the latter is lying.

I find in the modern world that many men simply do not keep their word at all, and that’s a death sentence for any relationship, whether it be platonic, romantic, or professional. I pay close attention to people who say they’ll do something for me, or even others. If they fail to deliver repeatedly, I simply don’t take them seriously anymore.

This stems back to my childhood. My father was the kind of guy who would tell me, “I’ll buy you this and I’ll buy you that,” and he never did. It really irked me as a kid, so it stuck with me ever since. It’s my pet peeve. But it’s a very good pet peeve to have because it allows me to gauge who someone truly is. If a man does not keep his word to you, then he’s a liar who cannot be trusted. End of story.

Of course, people have reasons to break their word at times, and that should be taken into account. No one is perfect after all, and things happen in life. But when people do not stick to their commitments for no reason at all, they’re being disrespectful while simultaneously discrediting themselves.

Your word is like credit. A person loans you their trust, and if you give it back on time, you build good credit with them. But if you miss your payments by not keeping your promises, your credit goes lower. Continue to do this, and that person will never loan you their trust again.

It doesn’t matter what you have in this world. You could have all the money, fame, or influence that you may think makes a man, but what truly makes a man is his word. But it’s not his word alone; it’s the act of keeping his word. Anyone could say whatever they want, but they only mean what they say when they act on what they say.

Today’s man is a coward who does the complete opposite—no integrity, no self-reflection, and no care whether or not their word means anything. This is just a symptom of a deeper problem with society in general. People are okay with being fake, and thus, our society has become ruled by frauds, liars, charlatans, cowards, and traitors, all of whom have terrible credit and yet keep getting put in the same positions of influence because they reflect the nature of the people who put them there.

Of course none of us are perfect, and there are times we will give our word to someone but fail to deliver. If it is because you changed your mind, then you must be honest and tell the person that you changed your mind before you’re supposed to deliver on the commitment. They will either respect your decision or not, but you can only control your actions. By being honest, you did the right thing, and whatever happens after is on them. But a man of integrity will respect your change of mind.

Unfortunately, most people, instead of being honest, will make up excuses to spare people’s feelings. The intention behind this is pure; however, such actions are cowardly and deceptive, weakening the relationship. And a relationship based on lies is destined to die.

Other times things come up that are out of your control, which prevent you from keeping your word. When that happens, you must tell that person immediately. But if you brush someone off and you don’t tell them why, and it’s not a good reason, maybe you’ll get away with it once, maybe even twice, but the third time you’re out.

So remember: treat your word like credit, because it’s much more important than gold. You can’t buy trust; you can only earn it. Trust takes a long time to build and an instant to shatter. If people trust you, they will share with you all sorts of things, as people love to share what they love with others. But if they don’t trust you, you’ll get nothing, because they will not trust you with anything they value, especially their time.

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