Twenty Years Ago, I Made A Promise To Myself; Today It Has Become My Stength

As a child, I remember that if someone asked me, “Promise?” It could be for something as trivial as my being there somewhere. Me getting a book for them. Me attending a birthday party. Me making a call. Instantly, I would say, “Yes!” without really understanding the weight of the word. Promises felt light then, almost casual. Things to be kept at times, and broken many times too. 

Only as I grew older, learned more about relationships, about people, about how love begins, how it grows, and how it fades too, did I realise something important: a promise is not for others, it’s more for you. It’s about what it does to your own self-belief, and even your subconscious mind. 

Yes, someone else may be waiting for your commitment too. But before that, a promise has started holding a lot of importance for me. And how I uphold it - irrespective of who is watching, or concerned. Especially promises I make to myself, as I know they are shaping my future.

Did you know this? Each time that you say you will do it - and don't do it (could be as small and regular as "I will wake up at 6:30 a.m." and waking up at 7 instead) - your subconscious mind starts developing a doubt. It says - she says it, but she won't do it.

And each time that you keep up to your own promise, your subconscious mind gives you a tick, saying - 'Ah, she says it, and she does it.'

Now here lies the mind-boggling stuff. It looks simple enough to say things and not do them… however, true achievers, legends - people who make something out of their life do it because their subconscious believes, “If she says it, she will do it!” So keeping the day-to-day promises to yourself actually makes your mind strong enough to achieve the big things.

A promise to myself

I recall one promise I made to myself almost 20 years ago. And here is the surprising part: it has stayed with me, even in 2026. But it wasn’t easy. I decided to make meditation (at least 11 minutes a day!) a part of my life in 2005, and every single day I have done it. It sounds like a massive achievement, but honestly, it doesn’t feel like one. Meditation has been part of my system for so long that it feels like breathing. 

I have meditated on the tough days and on the easy breezy days. On days I failed miserably, and on days I owned the stage of my life and how! On the day I lost my mother in form, and the day I became a mother… even the day I got married. Nothing has mattered more than keeping up this promise, and I believe it has carried me through life. 

In fact, I think this promise finds its roots in my childhood. 

I was the girl with the “not so normal” dreams. A misfit for that time. A school topper on some days, and on other days someone who brought home a grade F. I was the child who asked bold questions about life, God, and death, when all I was expected to do was learn, listen, and follow.

There were days I bunked school and wrote letters to God. Somewhere during those years, I started feeling that I carried an energy inside me that needed a home. I needed stillness. I needed space. I needed a connection to something beyond me. Meditation became all of that and so much more. 

A promise to yourself, I believe, does not come from discipline alone. It comes from a need. When the need is real, the promise stays. It becomes an anchor. You experience freedom and control at the same time.

The reason I will never break it

An incident shook me to the core and reflected the power of habits, of keeping your promises, and how powerful they can be. Last year, during my regular annual spiritual retreat, HDB with my beloved guru Mahatria Ra, there was an early morning session planned at 6 a.m.

All of us seekers were waiting for the Master, and it must have been 5:45 a.m. My eyes closed on their own accord, and something beyond all human comprehension took over me. I opened my eyes, and the entire session was over, and I was the only person on the lawn, and the time lapsed was not less than four hours.

Four hours felt like a moment - all because I had been a regular meditator. What happened post that experience is not something I can put into words - but a feeling. Divine. I don't know how else to sum it.

I came back with an energy that cannot be explained. And ever since I have come back, dreams more humongous than I can imagine have been unfolding for me. 

A promise can strengthen relationships and empower you, but yes, it comes with a price. All things said, it is not easy. Life tests us constantly. We break promises, fall, feel guilty, and try again. But every time we return to a promise made with honesty, we grow stronger.

Whether it is reaching work on time, meeting deadlines, waking up at 5:30 a.m., or doing those 100 push-ups every promise matters. In fact, I don't make a promise unless I am confident of living up to it. 

For me, a promise I made to myself twenty years ago has become my quiet strength. My best friend. My lifeline. And perhaps, for many women, the most powerful promises are not spoken aloud; they are lived, every single day.

As mothers, daughters, entrepreneurs, and seekers. To each of you reading this, I urge - either make a promise and stick with it, or don't make it. What a world of good it will do to you!

Submitted by Megha Bajaj. Views expressed by the author are their own.