Alex Sheen, founder of “Because I said I would” recently spoke at a corporate event for a company I have a long history with. I have had the opportunity to hear a lot of great speakers and messages, but Alex’s message may be one of the ones that impacted me the most.
Unfortunately the speech he gave last week is not available in video form yet- but I found some of his Ted Talks to share with those of you reading here.
http://becauseisaidiwould.com/alexsheen/
I encourage you to take the time today to listen to at least one of Alex’s talks. I think it will change your world – at least it did mine.
Alex speaks about keeping promises. The impact that writing that promise down has. The way in which our mind shifts when we write it down- make it public- tell others about it. It isn’t just a goal. It isn’t something we hope to do. It’s a commitment. A promise. Our word- in writing- that we are going to do something. Alex has sent commitment cards to 153 countries!! People are writing their promises, sharing them with the world and changing their lives and the lives of others- one promise at a time.
If you watch Alex’s talks, you’ll realize that these “Because I Said I Would” cards have changed peoples lives. They are big and small promises. Something as small as “I will work out every day this week” to “I will call an old friend today” to “I will take my Grandmother to lunch” to “I will plead guilty to killing a man while I was driving drunk” or “I will not harm myself” or “I will leave my abusive relationship.” Promises big and small. Changing lives. One card at a time.
I admit when I heard Alex’s message- it hit me. I thought about the goals I have had. The goals I’ve had that stayed goals with no work put toward them. The promises unkept. The things I want to do but haven’t followed through on. What have I said that I didn’t do? Where have I fallen short? Where can my word become action and make a difference?
I wrote some cards this past week. I handed them out. And wouldn’t you know- writing of those messages has made the words more than words. I’ve made good on some of the cards so far. Others are longer term commitments – but since writing them down, they’ve been at the front of my mind getting worked on daily.
What do you need to write down? What have you said that you haven’t yet done? What would your card say?
Now is the time. Write it down. Pass them out. Change your world -the world – one card at a time.
If you want to write your own cards, you can download and print them via the Because I said I would site: http://becauseisaidiwould.com/printcards/