Whether you’re swept up in happiness, grappling with desperation, or simply in need, making commitments in these states can often lead to complications down the line.

Here’s why it’s wise to pause before making promises under four specific emotional circumstances.

When you’re overjoyed

Happiness can make the world seem full of endless possibilities, prompting us to make promises while wearing rose-colored glasses. However, commitments made in this state may not be realistic.

When the excitement settles, you might find that you’ve agreed to things that are either unmanageable or infeasible.

So, the next time joy has you floating on cloud nine, enjoy the moment, but consider delaying any big decisions until you can evaluate them with a clear and calm mind.

When you’re desperate

Desperation can cloud your judgment, pushing you to make promises as a way to quickly resolve a problem. This rush for a short-term solution can trap you in long-term commitments that may not be in your best interest.

Before making any promises out of desperation, take a step back and assess your situation with a pragmatic approach.

Often, you’ll find that taking time to think things through will unveil better solutions than those conceived in haste.

When you’re in need

Being in a position of need can sometimes make you overpromise in hopes of gaining immediate support or relief. While it’s natural to seek assistance, offering more than you can deliver in return can lead to stress and strained relationships.

It’s important to communicate honestly about what you are capable of handling. Transparent conversations can lead to understanding and assistance without the need for risky promises.

When you’re under pressure

Pressure, whether from peers, work, or personal expectations, can lead you to make promises without fully considering the consequences. This might mean agreeing to deadlines you can’t meet or obligations you can’t fulfill.

To avoid this, practice setting boundaries and allow yourself the space to make decisions at your own pace. Remember, it’s okay to say “no” or “I need more time to think about this.”

Making promises should never be taken lightly. By recognizing the moments when you’re most vulnerable to making impulsive commitments, you can save yourself from future stress and maintain the integrity of your word.

Next time you find yourself about to make a promise, remember these tips and choose your commitments wisely.

Speaking during a debate on President Akufo-Addo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Parliament on Monday, March 11, Dr. Ato Forson voiced his discontent with the government’s performance.

He said the current administration would be remembered as the least successful in Ghana’s history.

“Never in the history of Ghana was a government so hyped up, with massive goodwill and huge fiscal space enough to transform our country as this Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government. Yet, this government and the NPP have gone down as the worst-performing government in the history of Ghana!

“Mr Speaker, I can say without any doubt that President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Bawumia who promised to transform Ghana within 18 months have been a monumental failure. They promised heaven but delivered hell! Mr Speaker, deep down in the hearts of members of the NPP, including my colleagues on the opposite side, they accept that the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government has been an unmitigated disaster,” he said.

He condemned the government for the turmoil it has instigated, stressing that the nation’s economic reality starkly contrasts with the optimistic picture painted by the President during the SONA.

“Each time President Akufo-Addo gets the opportunity to tell the people of Ghana about how he and his government got us into this mess, he chooses to bury his head in the sand, like the proverbial ostrich. President Akufo-Addo and Alhaji Bawumia pretend not to see the mess that they have created. They still live in a bubble of denial over the true state of Ghana today.

“Hon. Speaker, Parliament remains a House of record, and the record must reflect nothing but the true state of our nation. Our reality today stands in sharp contrast with the glossy picture the President depicted to the people of Ghana,” the minority leader stated.

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1. Get Brexit done… and trade agreed

The PM has a series of promises to keep.

Firstly, to leave the EU on 31 January.

He now has the majority in Parliament to push the necessary legislation through, so there’s no reason to think that won’t happen on schedule.

But Mr Johnson then has to negotiate an “ambitious” trade agreement with the EU extremely quickly.

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The PM has to get it ratified before the end of the post-Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020. This is the time between the UK leaving the EU with a deal and finally quitting it altogether under the terms of a new relationship.

He has guaranteed that the transition period will not be extended – creating a potential crunch point, in just over a year’s time.

This will be far more difficult to achieve, especially if Mr Johnson wants to diverge from the EU rules and regulations that the UK currently follows.

Finally, Mr Johnson has promised that after the transition period there will be no checks on goods moving within the UK between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The problem is that’s exactly what his own withdrawal agreement creates.

Anyone hoping to hear no more about Brexit after the end of January is likely to be disappointed.

2. Meet growing demands on the NHS

In their manifesto, the Conservatives – like all the main parties – promised extra funding for the NHS. Among other things, this would mean tens of thousands of extra nurses and about 50 million more GP surgery appointments a year.

But many health leaders felt these pledges did not go nearly far enough to address a fundamental problem – demand for patient care is rising relentlessly, but NHS resources and staff levels just haven’t kept up.

Closing that gap will need time and money, but to actually bring down waiting lists and modernise services will require still more.

Training enough new staff and getting them into clinical roles could take several years. So there is a lot for the PM to face up to.

Big decisions on funding and workforce planning will have to be made quickly to ensure adequate care is available in future years.

Then there is the immediate challenge of the next few months and a potentially very difficult winter for the NHS, with increased pressures because of flu and other winter ailments.

3. Tackle the social care crisis

Finding a solution to the crisis facing the care system that supports older and disabled people should be near the top of Boris Johnson’s to-do list.

He’s promised cross-party talks within 100 days, but it is worth noting that it is more than 1,000 days since the Conservatives first promised to fix this overstretched, underfunded, yet vital system.

This is after more than 20 years during which successive governments have failed to reform adult social care.

Number of people receiving long-term support from councils

England, 65 and overSource: NHS Digital, between 2014 and 2015 there were changes to the methodology, meaning figures are not directly comparable.

The “clear plan” the prime minister promised in July has not materialised, but his guiding principle is that no-one will have to sell their home to pay for care.

There will be an extra £1bn a year for the next five years to prop up the current system. However, it will be shared with equally stretched children’s social care.

Experts warn it won’t be enough to tackle the pressures families face right now.

4. Work to hit climate change targets

Boris Johnson faces formidable environmental challenges – and needs to make quick decisions.

Headache number one is climate change.

In December 2020, the UK hosts a massively important global climate gathering in Glasgow – the UN COP26 meeting.

Campaign group Friends of the Earth says the UK will be “humiliated” if it hosts the summit without setting out how it will meet its own carbon targets in advance.

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The UK’s advisory committee on climate change, made up of politicians, climate scientists and others, warns that tens of millions of homes must be insulated soon.

Other experts say large-scale road and airport building are not compatible with cutting emissions of carbon dioxide, which scientists say is the major cause of global heating.

They say this is also the case even if cars are fully electric. And they recommend that people should be helped to walk and cycle.

The Conservative manifesto had comparatively little to say on these issues.

The USA has said it won’t have climate change even mentioned in any trade deal. Meanwhile the EU is putting a border tax on countries that don’t cut greenhouse gases. It will be very hard to please both.

Last, but not least, is the state of nature. In October 2019, the Conservative government published a radical environment bill, setting firm targets for conservation – against the wish of the Treasury.

The bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the election was called. Will it survive and be reintroduced into Parliament in the new term?

5. Transform the immigration system

There are three big questions hanging over the easy-to-repeat slogan of an “Australian-style points-based system”. This ranks migrant workers according to their skills and abilities.

First, can it really be introduced by the deadline the Conservatives have set of January 2021?

The scale of the policy, legal aspects and staffing challenges ahead to make this happen are enormous – and government is a graveyard of failed IT projects.

Secondly, can anyone be sure the final scheme will look like the one being promised?

• How significant is immigration to the UK?

Nations the UK hopes to strike trade deals with may demand preferential access for their citizens. Specific sectors of the economy – such as social care – may be allowed to bring in as many workers as they can find to ease chronic staffing crises.

Finally, what will be its impact on net migration?

Boris Johnson says it will fall – but it’s hard to see how he can deliver that. This is especially so as he’s also promising no cap on skilled workers, or in other sectors, like hotels and construction.

In other words – we simply don’t know what the government will deliver, what the system’s impact will be – and whether leaving the EU and implementing it will make a jot of difference to the overall numbers.

According to Sam Pyne, the NPP has delivered beyond expectation looking at the nature of economy they inherited from the erstwhile Mahama administration.

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Speaking on Adom TV’s Badwam show, Wednesday, Mr Pyne said the significant achievements of the government are evident for all to see.

“I can say we have fulfilled more than 80% of the promises and still on course to deliver; ranging from 1D1F, free education, one million per one constituency, reviving Ekumfi juice factory and the settlement of NHIS debts and others,” he said confidently.

He added that the NPP has done an excellent work after three years of assuming power and must be acknowledged.

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“Human needs are insatiable but as it stands now, we have done great works; recruitment processes and job creation and for the health sector alone, we have employed over 54,000 personnel,” he added.

Addressing residents of Sogakope over the weekend, Mr Mahama also announced that the road along the Volta River passing in front of Hotel Cisneros and Holy Trinity Spa will be constructed to help boost the development of tourism and hospitality in the district. 

Residents of Sogakofe have for sometime now, been agitating for good roads, particularly the Lower Volta Bridge, which they say has become a death trap due to the rusty expansion and contraction joints.

Returning from Dabala where he had gone to join thousands of followers of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church to mark their centenary celebrations, Mr. Mahama made a brief stop at Sogakofe to interact with a crowd of traders who had gathered there waiting to catch a glimpse of him.

The former President in his address committed himself to ensure the youth of Sogakope benefit from the tourism potential of the area if he is elected President again.

“We will build a new market for Sogakofe. Sogakofe is a the centre of tourism and so we will build Cisneros road along the water so that we can have tourist resorts so that the young people in Sogakofe can find work to do in the tourist resorts,” he said to a rapturous response from the gathering most of whom are traders.

See photos below:

According to him, his contenders are just engaging in unhealthy propaganda which he believes is constitutionally inappropriate.

Honourable Ap)nkye, as he is popularly known in his electoral area, is promising every house not just a toilet facility but a biogas as well.

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In an interview with Joy News’ Mahmud Mohammed-Nurudeen, the aspirant expressed confidence of winning, saying that the electorate love and prefer him to the other contestants.

“In this constituency, everybody likes me; old man, old woman, children, boys and girls, ladies, in fact all the individuals in this area love me,” he bragged.

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The representative, who is number three on the ballot sheet, also promised to reward his male assembly members with a job that pays a daily wage of GH¢ 20.00 after his victory.

“When I come to power every house will get one biogas toilet. I will go and lobby for them,” he promised.

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Hon Ap)nkye, as a way of curbing sanitation issues, is willing to provide every junction in his assembly with a dustbin.

He is also willing to provide free chairs and canopies for every ceremony in the electoral area.

Listen to him in audio above:

Source: Adomonline.com

“We were voted in by the people to solve their problems and that is what we have begun to do.”

The President, who was on a three-day day visit to the Ashanti Region to thank the people for voting massively for him and his party – the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was addressing journalists in Kumasi.

Some Ministers of State accompanying him, earlier, had taken turns to speak about policy interventions calibrated to drive the government’s development agenda.

They included the Trade and Industry Minister, Mr. Allan Kyeremateng, Food and Agriculture Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Education Minister, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, Aviation Minister, Madam Cecelia Ama Dapaah, Transport Minister, Mr. Ofori Asiamah and Ms. Otiko Afisa Djaba, Gender, Children and Social Protection Minister.

Central to the key activities of their ministries is job creation to lift people out of poverty and make things better.

President Akufo-Addo said steps had been taken to revive the vibrancy of the agricultural sector and stimulate private sector growth.

He also made reference to the free senior high school policy and asked that those who expressed skepticism to have the humility of admitting that they were wrong

He again spoke of reforms to ensure the viability and sustainability of the National Insurance Health Scheme (NHIS) to assure everybody of access to quality healthcare.

He gave the assurance that the long delays in the payment claims to service providers would soon be a thing of the past – they were going to be paid timeously.

President Akufo-Addo pledged his resolve to deepen the interaction with the population to listen to their concerns and act to address them.

The government would not be cut off from the people and that they would be kept abreast – well informed of the “reasons for what we are doing”.

It would govern honestly – deal with the public purse honestly and eliminate waste so that there would be resources to deal with challenges confronting the nation.

In response to a question about the alarming destruction of the forest and water bodies through illegal mining, he stated that a comprehensive policy would be rolled out to deal with the phenomenon.

He added that it was not going to be a piecemeal approach but tackled once and for all.

source: GNA

He has argued that government has not spent up to a year in office and the tenure of the president is four years, hence promises made by government are to be fulfilled within that period.

“Every political party has a four-year cycle. We have done a one-year budget out of four, so, if I make 10 pledges and in one budget I fulfil six and [then] you say I am running away from pledges?” he questioned.

He said the manifesto presented by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is a four-year manifesto and going forward “we will tackle other problems”.

For him, “if anyone thinks that all the pledges by government will be fulfilled in one year, then you are being utopian”.

He was responding to issues raised by the Minority and other commentators over problems not addressed in the budget presented by the Finance Minister recently.

In an interview with Accra-based Joy FM on Friday, 10 March, Mr Osafo Marfo was optimistic the Akufo-Addo government will fulfil most of its campaign promises.

SOURCE: Classfm

‘’The NPP must deliver and God will help us to deliver. Ghana was at the cross roads and we needed someone to change the situation and Ghanaians listened to our message and voted for us. We have to deliver on our promises so that Ghanaians will not be disappointed,’’ he said.

Lawyer Boahen said he is not a crooked politician like some others and will not make claims that, former President Mahama did nothing when he was a president.

The avowed critic of ex-President John Mahama speaking on Accra-based Rainbow Rainbow said although the first gentleman failed to honour his promises to the voters and that led to his defeat in the 2016 polls, he still admired him for empowering women.

He cited the appointment of Charlotte Osei as first female Chair of the Electoral Commission as a plus to the former President.

According to him, he does not hate president Mahama as a human being but he was incompetent and failed as a leader.

source: rainbowradio