The Latin motto Dictum Meum Pactum, incorporated in the new coat of arms adopted by The London Stock Exchange in 1923, keeps popping into my head. It reminds me of a principle which I have been trying to live by for a number of years, so far with only limited success.
Looking back to earlier days, I had various work associations with the London Stock Exchange, some direct and some indirect. These were the catalyst for a lifelong interest in world financial markets but that has nothing whatsoever to do with today's article.
I generally dislike acronyms, especially those of the three letter variety, for reasons that we might explore on another occasion. However, somewhat paradoxically, I make up my own when it suits me. My acronyms have to sound like words (and I therefore write them in lower case letters) and must represent important concepts - at least, concepts that have special meaning for me.
One such invented word, tiwisidi, represents the idea of commitment and is thus similar in meaning to the motto of the London Stock Exchange. The acronym's expansion, think it, write it, say it, do it, encapsulates some principles set out by Napoleon Hill in his book Think and Grow Rich.
The simple but very powerful, and exceptionally hard to apply, underlying principle is that we should decide what we will do, formalise it as a commitment, and then make absolutely sure we follow through on our promise - whether to ourself or others.
How does this relate to our health? We must first decide what actions, activities and systems we will embrace to maintain and improve our wellbeing. We must then honour the important commitments we make.