Do you follow through with what you tell people you will do? When you say " I'll call you next week", do you? When you say "Let's get together soon", do you mean it or are you just saying it to be CORDIAL? In business, when you tell a salesperson "Let's do some business down the road", are you sincere. Perhaps is it an easy blow off to get the salesperson out of your hair? If you say "Let's go out Friday night", do you follow through or is it all fluff?

A few weeks back I had a discussion with a related cousin who I knew, but not overly well. The discussion was about if he wanted to go on a golf trip with the boys.

Now , I've run my share of golf trips over the years. How it usually goes is that everyone wants in the night of drinks and discussion. When it's time to put up the deposit money, most are nowhere to be found.

Why is this? Do people not want to say no? Is it the drinks talking? Do they just want to sound cool and say they will go? Do peoples word mean anything these days?

Well, this time , I figure I'll capitalize on my past experiences. At the first meeting my cousin states that he is 90% "in", as long as he doesn't have a prior work commitment. Fair enough. The next day, I call him to confirm the previous nights conversation, now that the beer cobwebs are all gone. He confirms that he is serious about going , assuming no work conflict( that was his chance to get out).

Three weeks go by. Time to get the hotel reservations and golf tee times. I call the cousin for a final confirmation. He advises he can t go...... he 's going to a baseball game that weekend. What?? Doesn't sound work related to me.

So my question is .. what exactly does 90% "in" mean? Where is people's word these days? Does it matter what they tell others? While others spend money, make plans and commitments, are they free to just change their mind, without even a care?

For my cousin, he may not think twice about it, For myself, I learned a wee bit more about his character. I also learned about his word...... and what is BEHIND IT.

My parents raised me so that if I said I was going to do something, I better darn well do it. Remember the days of business deals being done on a handshake. No contracts. Just two people giving each other their word of honor.

My word equals my character, my reputation. There is a famous quote that states that is takes years to build a good reputation, and a day to ruin it. When you think about it, your word is really all you have, so it should be used with caution, and taken very seriously.