Following through

The concept of following through has been on my mind lately.

I probably wouldn’t be thinking about it if more people did it. Following through is closely related to keeping one’s word, another very important but often overlooked concept. If you have read a variety of spiritual works, one of the constant themes is the importance of keeping your word. And it doesn’t matter how seemingly trivial  your promise may be. The concept of follow through is related to this,and just, if not more, important.

I know that life has become more challenging on every front. I know that people are distracted by a wide variety of electronic stimulation, and I know that many people perceive their time as limited. However, none of these factors justify the failure to follow through on a regular basis. And I strongly believe that if more people made an effort to follow through, overall complaining would decrease dramatically.

Here are five steps to help anyone follow through:

1. Stop being selfish- One of the reasons that people do not follow through is because they feel that it is not in their interest to do so. This is an erroneous concept, because most people have  a limited view on where their self-interest really lies.
2. Consider the energy effect- We create our energy field by our every thought and action. When you don’t follow through on something to completion, your energy field is depleted, and the likelihood of you getting what you want in life plummets.
3. Don’t think too much- Just do what you said you would until it’s done, don’t think too much about what it means either way. Completing what you intended always brings its own reward, and often the benefits are greater than anticipated.
4. Expect nothing- Having no expectations and being detached always helps, because you show faith that your sincere efforts are worthwhile on their own.
5. Show gratitude- Respect the process, and realize how lucky you are to have so many of your needs already met that you can be reaching for this particular goal.