What Is a Silent Contract?

A silent contract is the unspoken bargain Lewis Howes names as doing something and then treating a return as owed: I did blank, so I am owed blank. Most people find three or four of them right away, with a boss, a partner, a parent, or an audience.

He says to pick one and keep doing the work on the left side of the sentence while crossing out the right side, the part about what is owed. Showing up and giving stay. The attached expectation and the attached result come off. Wanting the results can remain, because creating something is still meant to produce a result for yourself as well. Tying the expectation to the giving is what other people feel. Lewis Howes gets emails, text messages, and DMs weekly from people wanting something from him, and the energy shows in written words and when someone speaks in person.

Lewis Howes says maybe you do not feel comfortable with the request right now, or it does not feel like the right timing and the right alignment. Once the expectation comes off, people respond differently by the end of the week. If you are keeping score with your own effort, there is a good chance you are keeping score with everyone else's effort as well.