How I Violated a Core Principle

I did something that was out of integrity of who I am, and I paid the price.

I had a call booked with a friend of mine, it was half meant to see how we could collaborate on something, and half a good reason to check-in. Earlier in the week we had our call booked but he had a conflict come up, so we rescheduled well in advance. No harm there. But then an hour before our new time to call I was invited by my roommates to do something fun. It was a Friday evening after a long week, and I felt like I had earned a little time-off, so I made the decision to postpone our call for a day and take action on this opportunity.

After asking to reschedule, my friend expressed his frustration about my decision, defending the value of his time and wishing that I had given him more advanced warning. It’s a very fair point and a consequence I was aware of when I made my decision. 

Long story short, I didn’t enjoy my time on Friday as much as I should have because this decision was lingering in the back of my mind, and after reflecting on it more I realized it’s because I violated one of my core principles, which is "Dependable Execution". 

I am consistent. When I tell you I’m going to do something I do it no questions asked. It is a strength of mine and something that I believe differentiates me from others. For years I have taken action in alignment with this core principle, it’s a trait that I value so dearly, and my mind and body had a physical reaction when I behaved out of integrity with this value.  However, the silver lining here is that this experience reinforced how important this core principle is to me, and offers good confirmation that I’m on the right path prioritizing this quality.