As any good salesperson or sales manager will tell you, getting a “verbal” commitment or a “verbal” yes from a prospect, without a signed agreement or authorized transaction, just doesn’t get the job done. As a matter of fact, it’s worse than just not getting the job done, this practice fills their sales pipeline with fluff and keeps the salesperson focused on the wrong opportunities and investing their time and energy on potential business that will most likely never materialize.

Verbal commitments are not just a salesperson’s woes: The verbal commitments we make to ourselves and never fulfill impact our lives in so many ways as we never quite close the transaction. And sooner or later our goals and dreams become just another lost opportunity.

We commit to certain behaviors. We commit to living in a different way. We commit to pursuing our dreams and passions. We commit to changing or breaking a bad habit. Sometimes we make these commitments and actually say the words out loud. And other times we make the commitment within the safety of our own heart and mind. And what happens in most cases when we have under-committed or failed to commit to an agreement with ourselves, is that we tend to give up or lose more often than we win.

Although it may seem like it, this is not all bad news. The fact that we are having positive thoughts and making “verbal” commitments to ourselves is an indicator that we know we need to make a change or want something different in our lives. We want to make a change that aligns with the things we are most passionate about in this life. We want to alter something that is having a negative impact on our health or in our relationships. So, knowing that our intent is good, we just need to live up to the fulfillment and to our commitments.

This is why it is so extremely important to write down our goals. By writing down our goals we are turning our “verbal” commitment with ourselves into a form of an agreement. We are contracting with ourselves to commit to doing what we said we will do when we said we will do it, changing what we committed to changing, and fulfilling our lifelong goals and dreams. We become one step closer with each review of what we have written down, and we become one step closer to meeting and exceeding our expectations.

A “verbal” yes in sales that leads to a signed agreement is awesome. Getting a “no” in sales is also good, not as good as getting a “yes” but still much better than getting a “maybe” or a “think it over”. The same holds true for our own commitments. If it is going to be a “yes,” than we need to write it down and make the commitment. If it is going to be a “no,” or “no for now,” than we need to dismiss it until we can commit to it. And if it is a “maybe” or a “think it over,” we need to drop those too or else we will find ourselves overcommitted to everything and never accomplishing anything.

So how about you? Are your commitments advancing you toward the successful achievement of your dreams and goals? Or are you feeling overcommitted or maybe even under-committed and finding yourself stuck somewhere in between? Either way, I would love to hear your story at gotonorton@gmail.com. And when we can become truly committed to our success, it really will be a better than good week.

Michael Norton is a resident of Highlands Ranch, the chief revenue officer at Eventus Solutions Group, a strategic consultant and a business and personal coach.