Your word is only as good as your Thursday. That’s when most promises from Monday fall apart.

Promises get made with Monday energy and kept with Thursday energy, and those are not the same resource. By midweek the enthusiasm has drained, the week has gone wrong in two places, and whatever you agreed to has to be done by somebody tired. That is the real test of a commitment, and it is why over-promising feels generous and lands as unreliable. Say what the tired version of you can deliver.

Before you agree to anything this week, picture Thursday honestly and answer from there. Promise slightly less than feels natural, then keep the smaller promise exactly.