Only serious professionals value and work on their credibility—doing what they say they will do, when they say they will do it. It doesn’t just happen or everyone would have it. Since it takes focus and effort, not many have earned the confidence of others that their word is good enough to take to the bank. Is yours?

Every time you agree to do something, you put your credibility at risk. Lots of things can go wrong; some of them are out of your control. Nonetheless, if you said you would, you’re on the hook to deliver, unless you renegotiate your agreement—in advance. You can see how much effort it takes to earn and maintain strong credibility.

When you agree to something, you have best intent. You mean well. But sometimes you set yourself up for failure. There are two common reasons you miscalculate your ability to deliver.

1. You agree without seriously considering everything you will say no to. What else have you promised, agreed to or responsible for? Shoehorning your new agreement in an already-crowded calendar usually means overload.

2. When you consider the time, energy and resources, you think in terms of everything going perfectly: you have what you need, when you need it and the way you need it. In addition, everyone else does everything exactly right. And nothing comes up that you didn’t expect. Now, stated that way, what have you EVER done where everything goes that way? Never? Then why do you expect it will this time?

The point is that your intent isn’t enough. People don’t see your intent. They can only see your actions. No matter how much you want to come through, the only thing that matters is that you DO come through. Anything else falls short.

This week, be careful to guard your credibility.