Reputation grows like interest. Every kept promise is a deposit, and one scandal can drain the account.

Standing accumulates slowly and asymmetrically. Hundreds of small kept commitments build it at a rate you barely notice, and a single serious breach can remove most of it at once. That asymmetry is unfair, and it is also how trust behaves in people’s heads.

Treat small promises as the real currency, especially the ones nobody would chase you about. When you cannot deliver, say so early rather than quietly hoping. And if you have already damaged something, repair it directly instead of waiting for time to do it.