Nothing kills progress or deadens enthusiasm more than someone
who talks but never follows through. It is crucial in both your home life and your work life that you stay focused and committed to whatever you say you will do. BOB WAS LOOKING for a new line of work. Already past the age when most people retire, he knew that some would think he was too old to learn anything new. But Bob had always been fascinated by planes, and one day he just presented himself at the small airport near his home outside Memphis. He didn’t know much about planes, but Bob’s background as a former marine convinced the general manager that Bob could be counted on. Bob’s tasks include fueling aircraft, which sometimes means climbing up on their wings. But without him literally nothing can happen at the airport. Bob’s boss says he hired him because he had “something we see in very few workers: ethics. I had somebody that I knew would be here when we needed him.” As Bob says, “There is no ‘almost’ in aviation. This is a job for getting things done.” People who have a high rate of following through on their commitments are 41 percent more likely to express confi dence in themselves and 28 percent more likely to say they feel in control of their lives. (Stewart, Carson, and Cardy 1996)