Being reliable is a gift to people who’ve been let down before.

Reliability means more to some people than you would guess. Somebody who grew up with a parent who did not come, or friends who cancelled, is quietly running a test on everybody, and your turning up when you said you would is not neutral to them. It is evidence against a conclusion they had already drawn. You will usually not be told this is happening.

Pick the person in your life who seems braced for disappointment and be exact with them for a month: on time, the thing you said, the message you promised. Do not announce any of it. Let the pattern do the talking.