Relationships don't begin with trust. Trust is built day-by-day by two people who demonstrate trust-worthiness through their words and actions.

If you've ever been on the receiving end of these words, you know that the last thing that you feel like doing upon hearing them is to drop your guard and open your heart. Ironically, that's probably exactly what the person delivering these words is trying to get you to do.

Have your "no" phrases as ready as your business cards. Keep them handy. Keep them honest.

If you are courageous and selective about the things you commit to, I promise you that your life will get easier. You will be able to free yourself from undue stress and guilt if you can reduce the amount of things you agree to do.

In retrospect, the officer's silence was a way of acknowledging that a young man had demonstrated a commitment to upholding his word. Perhaps the universe shined favorably upon me, too, for helping a fellow denizen of the planet.

It is a choice to persevere and sail on. Yet when a boat finds a place to dock on the other shore after a long journey, the sun sets on a beautiful portrait of commitment that has endured even the greatest odds. This is love.

For some people, I've noticed, saying you are going to do something feels just as good as actually doing it. How can we understand these promise-breakers, whose intentions start out both genuine and admirable, but who never seem to act on them?

You become the director, producer and actor of your own outcomes, from academic to career to healthy lifestyle goals. It's amazing what you can accomplish with positive thoughts.

Commitment is not about finding the perfect circumstance; it's about dictating a certain choice. It's not about making the right decision; it's about making a decision and then making it right.

The promises we make speak volumes about who we are. Whether your promise is as casual as committing to your partner that you'll eat better foods or as serious as eliminating abusive behavior, the promises we make -- to ourselves and others -- have tremendous power.

Accountability is not just keeping commitments. Accountability is taking action consistent with your desired outcome. It begins with defining the kind of results you want to achieve in your life at home and at work.

We all have to make ourselves do things that we just don't want to do. Here are seven tricks to help you power through those unwanted tasks.

I imagine that Tiger Woods wishes his father were still alive and that he could bow his head and beg forgiveness from the one person who knew him best before he was a legend.

What I've discovered is that my "Yes" sometimes does not allow anyone else the opportunity to say their own "Yes." If I have said "Yes," why should anyone else volunteer?